Lazard Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in Costamare Inc. $CMRE

Lazard Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Costamare Inc. (NYSE:CMRE) by 93.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,089 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 253,194 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Costamare were worth $306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costamare in the first quarter worth $6,075,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costamare by 113.5% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,116,647 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $17,632,000 after acquiring an additional 593,734 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Costamare by 527.7% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 703,932 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $6,413,000 after acquiring an additional 591,785 shares during the last quarter. VestGen Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Costamare during the 4th quarter worth about $5,455,000. Finally, Informed Momentum Co LLC purchased a new stake in Costamare during the 4th quarter worth about $3,682,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMRE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Costamare from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Costamare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Costamare from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costamare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.00.

Costamare Stock Performance

Shares of CMRE stock opened at $14.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.06. Costamare Inc. has a one year low of $10.48 and a one year high of $18.06. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.24.

Costamare (NYSE:CMRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The shipping company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.05. Costamare had a net margin of 39.66% and a return on equity of 15.11%. The company had revenue of $196.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.16 million.

Costamare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 21st were issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 21st. This is an increase from Costamare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Costamare’s payout ratio is 19.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Grigorios Zikos sold 59,840 shares of Costamare stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.34, for a total value of $917,945.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 23.20% of the company’s stock.

Costamare Company Profile

Costamare Inc is a leading owner and manager of containerships, specializing in the acquisition, chartering and operation of modern container vessels. The company secures employment for its fleet under a mix of long?term and short?term agreements, providing vital capacity to major shipping lines and leveraging fixed-rate charters to support cash flow stability.

Founded in 1974 and headquartered in Athens, Greece, Costamare has cultivated a disciplined approach to fleet renewal, often overseeing newbuild supervision and shipyard coordination to ensure vessels meet performance and environmental standards.