Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE) in a research note released on Tuesday. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the shipping company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a hold rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Alliance Global Partners restated a neutral rating on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a research note on Monday, February 26th. BTIG Research restated a neutral rating on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a research note on Friday, January 5th. B. Riley lifted their price target on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping from $52.20 to $63.50 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a hold rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up from $54.00) on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eagle Bulk Shipping currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $56.75.

Eagle Bulk Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EGLE opened at $62.60 on Tuesday. Eagle Bulk Shipping has a 1 year low of $39.15 and a 1 year high of $65.09. The stock has a market cap of $692.98 million, a P/E ratio of 40.92 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.50 and a 200 day moving average of $52.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 4th. The shipping company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $104.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.16 million. Eagle Bulk Shipping had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 4.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eagle Bulk Shipping will post 4.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Bulk Shipping Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This is a positive change from Eagle Bulk Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Eagle Bulk Shipping’s payout ratio is currently 156.86%.

Insider Activity at Eagle Bulk Shipping

In other Eagle Bulk Shipping news, major shareholder Castor Maritime Inc. bought 69,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $62.65 per share, for a total transaction of $4,362,632.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,461,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,540,107.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Bulk Shipping

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Eagle Bulk Shipping by 4,753.7% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 17,279 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 16,923 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Eagle Bulk Shipping by 3.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 167,004 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $7,019,000 after purchasing an additional 6,110 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Eagle Bulk Shipping by 118.7% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 30,256 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 16,420 shares in the last quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in Eagle Bulk Shipping by 23.7% during the third quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 6,082 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Eagle Bulk Shipping by 10.1% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,067 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 831 shares in the last quarter. 70.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Eagle Bulk Shipping

Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc engages in the ocean transportation of dry bulk cargoes worldwide. The company owns, charters, and operates dry bulk vessels that transport a range of bulk cargoes, including iron ore, coal, grains, fertilizers, steel products, petcoke, and cement. It serves miners, producers, traders, and end users.