J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Purchases New Stake in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 14,287 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBLK. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the 2nd quarter worth about $23,212,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 335.4% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,221,255 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $29,774,000 after acquiring an additional 940,745 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 101.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,791,426 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $43,675,000 after acquiring an additional 903,542 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. bought a new position in Star Bulk Carriers in the second quarter worth about $11,719,000. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 27.5% in the second quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,052,262 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $50,034,000 after acquiring an additional 442,860 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Star Bulk Carriers in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. DNB Markets lowered Star Bulk Carriers from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $30.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.67.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SBLK opened at $19.11 on Friday. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a 12-month low of $17.91 and a 12-month high of $27.47. The company has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 7.03 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

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

Star Bulk Carriers Cuts Dividend

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

Star Bulk Carriers Company 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.