Manatuck Hill Partners LLC Takes Position in Safe Bulkers, Inc $SB

Manatuck Hill Partners LLC bought a new position in Safe Bulkers, Inc (NYSE:SB) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 260,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,641,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SB. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Safe Bulkers in the 2nd quarter valued at $22,450,000. Fearnley Asset Management AS purchased a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,112,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers during the second quarter worth $5,690,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Safe Bulkers by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,651,114 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $12,778,000 after acquiring an additional 617,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in Safe Bulkers during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,571,000. 21.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Safe Bulkers Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:SB opened at $8.70 on Wednesday. Safe Bulkers, Inc has a fifty-two week low of $4.14 and a fifty-two week high of $8.76. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.76. The company has a market cap of $885.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The shipping company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 28.29% and a return on equity of 9.63%. The company had revenue of $87.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.50 million.

Safe Bulkers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Safe Bulkers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Safe Bulkers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered Safe Bulkers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.00.

About Safe Bulkers

Safe Bulkers Inc (NYSE: SB) is a dry bulk shipping company engaged in the ocean transport of commodities such as iron ore, coal, grain, and fertilizers. The company operates a modern fleet of vessels, including Panamax, Supramax and Kamsarmax bulk carriers, designed to serve a variety of trade routes and cargo types. Safe Bulkers’ fleet is employed under both time charter and voyage charter arrangements, offering flexibility to respond to market demand and optimize vessel utilization.

Founded in 2008, Safe Bulkers began trading its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in the same year, establishing itself as a publicly listed provider of dry bulk transportation services.