Short Interest in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) Drops By 62.3%

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,930,000 shares, a decline of 62.3% from the March 31st total of 5,120,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,580,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Star Bulk Carriers from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBLK. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 71,144 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares during the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. increased its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 24,388 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 3,150 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 112.7% during the 1st quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 792,802 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $18,915,000 after purchasing an additional 420,100 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 404,110 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

Star Bulk Carriers Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of SBLK stock traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.71. 1,315,816 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,686,426. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 13.96 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $23.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.61. Star Bulk Carriers has a 1-year low of $16.57 and a 1-year high of $25.16.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $263.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $236.40 million. Star Bulk Carriers had a net margin of 18.28% and a return on equity of 9.77%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Star Bulk Carriers will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Star Bulk Carriers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Star Bulk Carriers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Star Bulk Carriers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.70%.

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.