Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) Director Sells $182,340.00 in Stock

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) Director Koert Erhardt sold 6,000 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock in a transaction on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.39, for a total transaction of $182,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $306,331.20. The trade was a 37.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Koert Erhardt also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, September 15th, Koert Erhardt acquired 6,000 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $28.27 per share, for a total transaction of $169,620.00.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Down 2.5%

SBLK opened at $29.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 0.74. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a 12 month low of $16.72 and a 12 month high of $32.88. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $30.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The shipping company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.26. Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 23.87%. The business had revenue of $284.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $284.29 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Star Bulk Carriers Corp. will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Star Bulk Carriers Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were issued a $0.90 dividend. This is a boost from Star Bulk Carriers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.1%. Star Bulk Carriers’s payout ratio is 141.18%.

Institutional Trading of Star Bulk Carriers

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 13.0% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,067,637 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $47,494,000 after purchasing an additional 237,248 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its holdings in Star Bulk Carriers by 108.1% in the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,585,263 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $46,543,000 after purchasing an additional 823,575 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC purchased a new position in Star Bulk Carriers during the first quarter valued at $19,893,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Star Bulk Carriers during the first quarter valued at $17,398,000. Finally, Fearnley Asset Management AS bought a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the 4th quarter valued at $11,096,000. 33.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SBLK. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Zacks Research cut Star Bulk Carriers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.50.

About Star Bulk Carriers

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) is a global dry bulk shipping company that owns and operates vessels used to transport major and minor bulk commodities. Its cargoes include iron ore, grains, bauxite, fertilizers, steel products and other raw materials.

The company operates a diversified fleet of dry bulk carriers, including Capesize, Panamax, Ultramax and Supramax vessels. These ships serve international trade routes and transport commodities between producers, exporters and industrial customers across major global markets.

Star Bulk was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Maroussi, Greece.