Pangaea Logistics Solutions Ltd. (NASDAQ:PANL) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Pangaea Logistics Solutions Ltd. (NASDAQ:PANL) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 475,234 shares, a growth of 26.4% from the December 31st total of 375,908 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 319,861 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 319,861 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pangaea Logistics Solutions

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PANL. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Pangaea Logistics Solutions in the 1st quarter worth approximately $195,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Pangaea Logistics Solutions by 18.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,342 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 3,344 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Pangaea Logistics Solutions by 6.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 233,537 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after acquiring an additional 14,357 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Pangaea Logistics Solutions by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 381,919 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,818,000 after acquiring an additional 25,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its holdings in Pangaea Logistics Solutions by 94.2% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,094 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 11,204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PANL shares. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Pangaea Logistics Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pangaea Logistics Solutions in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research cut Pangaea Logistics Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Pangaea Logistics Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pangaea Logistics Solutions currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.00.

Pangaea Logistics Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANL traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $8.33. 359,516 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 707,391. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $7.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.98. The firm has a market cap of $541.14 million, a PE ratio of 27.83 and a beta of 0.79. Pangaea Logistics Solutions has a 52 week low of $3.93 and a 52 week high of $9.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Pangaea Logistics Solutions (NASDAQ:PANL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The shipping company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $168.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.32 million. Pangaea Logistics Solutions had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 3.26%. On average, equities analysts expect that Pangaea Logistics Solutions will post 0.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pangaea Logistics Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Pangaea Logistics Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.

Pangaea Logistics Solutions Company Profile

Pangaea Logistics Solutions Ltd. is a global transportation and logistics company that provides ocean transportation and integrated logistics services. The company operates a fleet of drybulk vessels, including Handysize, Supramax and Ultramax carriers, to transport commodities such as coal, grain, minerals, ores and steel products. In parallel, Pangaea offers asset-light logistics solutions spanning freight forwarding, supply chain management and project cargo services, enabling end-to-end transport for bulk and breakbulk shipments.

Founded in 2012 as a spin-off from an established maritime shipping group, Pangaea Logistics Solutions went public on the Nasdaq in 2013 under the ticker PANL.