Blue Trust Inc. Has $49,000 Stock Position in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) by 190.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,025 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 1,328 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Star Bulk Carriers were worth $49,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBLK. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Star Bulk Carriers by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the second quarter valued at about $54,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers in the 2nd quarter worth about $72,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 88.2% in the second quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 5,014 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DNB Markets lowered shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.67.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Performance

Shares of SBLK opened at $19.11 on Friday. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a 52 week low of $17.91 and a 52 week high of $27.47. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $21.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.07. The stock has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.03 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The shipping company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.01). Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 13.58% and a net margin of 24.05%. The company had revenue of $352.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $329.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Star Bulk Carriers Corp. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Star Bulk Carriers Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.65%. Star Bulk Carriers’s payout ratio is 102.94%.

Star Bulk Carriers Profile

Star Bulk Carriers Corp., a shipping company, engages in the ocean transportation of dry bulk cargoes worldwide. Its vessels transport a range of bulk commodities, including iron ores, minerals and grains, bauxite, fertilizers, and steel products. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned a fleet of 116 dry bulk vessels with combined carrying capacity of 13.1 million deadweight tonnage (dwt) consisting of Newcastlemax, Capesize, Post Panamax, Kamsarmax, Panamax, Ultramax, and Supramax vessels with carrying capacities between 53,489 dwt and 209,537 dwt.