Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) Shares Up 6.3% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) shot up 6.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $15.90 and last traded at $15.91. 2,048,757 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 5% from the average session volume of 1,950,783 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SBLK. StockNews.com lowered shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Star Bulk Carriers from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, DNB Markets raised shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $19.30 to $20.20 in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Star Bulk Carriers currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.05.

Star Bulk Carriers Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 0.95.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $308.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $230.91 million. Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 24.08%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Star Bulk Carriers Corp. will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Star Bulk Carriers Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. Star Bulk Carriers’s payout ratio is presently 83.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Star Bulk Carriers

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 229.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 404,196 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $9,575,000 after purchasing an additional 281,552 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 359.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 457,274 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,833,000 after purchasing an additional 357,720 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 7,313.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 455,254 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,784,000 after purchasing an additional 449,113 shares during the period. Autumn Glory Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the third quarter valued at about $649,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 1,458.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 31,565 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 29,540 shares in the last quarter. 33.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.