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

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE) in a report released on Wednesday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the shipping company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a hold rating and set a $55.00 target price (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a research report on Friday, January 26th. BTIG Research reissued a neutral rating on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a hold rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. B. Riley raised their price objective on Eagle Bulk Shipping from $52.20 to $63.50 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Alliance Global Partners restated a neutral rating on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a report on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $56.75.

Eagle Bulk Shipping Stock Performance

Eagle Bulk Shipping stock opened at $62.60 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Eagle Bulk Shipping has a 12 month low of $39.15 and a 12 month high of $65.09. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.46. The firm has a market cap of $692.98 million, a PE ratio of 40.92 and a beta of 1.49.

Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The shipping company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.38. Eagle Bulk Shipping had a return on equity of 4.62% and a net margin of 5.77%. The firm had revenue of $104.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.16 million. Analysts anticipate that Eagle Bulk Shipping will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Bulk Shipping Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EGLE. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in Eagle Bulk Shipping by 62.1% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,593 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares during the period. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Eagle Bulk Shipping during the fourth quarter worth approximately $161,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Eagle Bulk Shipping by 481.2% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,115 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 3,407 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Eagle Bulk Shipping during the third quarter worth approximately $286,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position 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 worth $381,000 after buying an additional 831 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.60% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Bulk Shipping Company Profile

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.