Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) Stock Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $20.68 and traded as high as $24.31. Star Bulk Carriers shares last traded at $24.10, with a volume of 539,685 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Star Bulk Carriers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 29th. Zacks Research cut Star Bulk Carriers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.74 and a beta of 0.78.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $230.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $250.51 million. Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 3.89% and a net margin of 8.07%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Star Bulk Carriers Corp. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Star Bulk Carriers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.0%. This is an increase from Star Bulk Carriers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Star Bulk Carriers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 202.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Star Bulk Carriers

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SBLK. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 94.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 117,275 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 56,930 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 59.7% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,298,436 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $20,204,000 after purchasing an additional 485,436 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 122,115 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,106,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 673.1% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 49,471 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 43,072 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,444,000. 33.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Star Bulk Carriers Company Profile

Star Bulk Carriers Corp is a global shipping company engaged in the ocean transport of dry bulk commodities. The company owns and operates a diversified fleet of bulk carriers, including Handymax, Supramax, Panamax and Capesize vessels. Its ships are designed to carry a broad range of cargoes, such as iron ore, coal, grain, bauxite and phosphate, catering to industrial and agricultural customers worldwide.

The company’s vessels operate on major trade routes across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, connecting producers and consumers in Asia, Europe, North and South America.