Jefferies Financial Group Reaffirms Buy Rating for Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB)

Jefferies Financial Group reiterated their buy rating on shares of Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a $6.00 price objective on the shipping company’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Safe Bulkers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Safe Bulkers Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of SB opened at $4.27 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $4.61 and a 200 day moving average of $5.15. Safe Bulkers has a fifty-two week low of $3.45 and a fifty-two week high of $6.33. The firm has a market cap of $455.91 million, a P/E ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.11.

Safe Bulkers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.68%. Safe Bulkers’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Safe Bulkers

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SB. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Safe Bulkers by 135.2% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,898,533 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $9,408,000 after buying an additional 1,091,277 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in Safe Bulkers by 440.7% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 552,357 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,215,000 after purchasing an additional 450,209 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC increased its stake in Safe Bulkers by 316.6% during the 2nd quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 418,300 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,435,000 after buying an additional 317,900 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in Safe Bulkers in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,480,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in Safe Bulkers during the third quarter worth $1,109,000. 21.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Safe Bulkers Company Profile

Safe Bulkers, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides marine drybulk transportation services. It owns and operates drybulk vessels for transporting bulk cargoes primarily coal, grain, and iron ore. The company has a fleet of 47 drybulk vessels having an aggregate carrying capacity of 4,719,600 deadweight tons.