Short Interest in Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) Declines By 21.3%

Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,070,000 shares, a decline of 21.3% from the February 13th total of 1,360,000 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 699,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SB shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of Safe Bulkers in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. DNB Markets upgraded shares of Safe Bulkers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.20 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of Safe Bulkers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $4.20 price target on shares of Safe Bulkers in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Safe Bulkers Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of SB stock traded up $0.09 on Wednesday, hitting $3.85. The stock had a trading volume of 287,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 606,054. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business has a 50 day moving average of $3.63 and a 200 day moving average of $4.06. Safe Bulkers has a 12-month low of $3.31 and a 12-month high of $6.33. The stock has a market cap of $404.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.94.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 31.65% and a return on equity of 10.04%. The firm had revenue of $69.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.90 million. As a group, analysts expect that Safe Bulkers will post 0.62 EPS for the current year.

Safe Bulkers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.20%. Safe Bulkers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Safe Bulkers

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers in the 4th quarter worth about $1,000,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,008 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 5,596 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 128.7% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 288,541 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after acquiring an additional 162,351 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 317,576 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 88,230 shares during the period. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. 21.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Safe Bulkers

Safe Bulkers, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides marine drybulk transportation services. It owns and operates drybulk vessels for transporting bulk cargoes primarily coal, grain, and iron ore. The company has a fleet of 47 drybulk vessels having an aggregate carrying capacity of 4,719,600 deadweight tons.