Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Euroseas Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESEA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $79.48 and last traded at $79.25, with a volume of 22266 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $75.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ESEA shares. Wall Street Zen raised Euroseas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings cut Euroseas from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Zacks Research raised Euroseas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Alliance Global Partners reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Euroseas in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy”.

Euroseas Trading Up 4.5%

The company has a fifty day moving average of $69.02 and a 200-day moving average of $65.65. The company has a current ratio of 5.46, a quick ratio of 5.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $560.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.45.

Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The shipping company reported $4.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.26 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $55.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.61 million. Euroseas had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 58.31%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Euroseas Ltd. will post 18.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Euroseas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. This is an increase from Euroseas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Euroseas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Euroseas during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Euroseas by 387.8% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,117 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 888 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Euroseas by 540.0% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,280 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 1,080 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Euroseas in the third quarter worth about $89,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Euroseas during the fourth quarter worth about $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 6.27% of the company’s stock.

About Euroseas

Euroseas Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESEA) is an international shipping company specializing in seaborne transportation of containerized and drybulk cargoes. Incorporated in Bermuda with its principal operations and management office based in Athens, Greece, the company owns and charters a diversified fleet of containerships, drybulk carriers and multipurpose vessels. Euroseas provides tailored shipping solutions on time-charter and voyage-charter agreements, serving manufacturers, commodity traders and logistics providers across major trade routes.

Euroseas’s fleet comprises both owned and chartered tonnage, enabling the company to adjust capacity to market conditions and customer requirements.