Verition Fund Management LLC Has $392,000 Position in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Verition Fund Management LLC cut its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) by 84.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,559 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 89,904 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Star Bulk Carriers were worth $392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SBLK. CFM Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 7.5% during the second quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 89,397 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,179,000 after buying an additional 6,226 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 40.2% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 55,881 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 16,022 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Star Bulk Carriers in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Dakota Wealth Management grew its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 159.3% in the second quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 80,154 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 49,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 22.9% in the second quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 16,822 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 3,132 shares in the last quarter. 33.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SBLK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. DNB Markets upgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $19.30 to $20.20 in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.80.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SBLK opened at $15.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.22, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a 1-year low of $15.34 and a 1-year high of $27.47.

Star Bulk Carriers Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.53%. Star Bulk Carriers’s payout ratio is 81.08%.

About Star Bulk Carriers

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.