Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) Declares $0.60 Quarterly Dividend

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 20th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of 0.60 per share by the shipping company on Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th.

Star Bulk Carriers has increased its dividend by an average of 215.5% per year over the last three years. Star Bulk Carriers has a dividend payout ratio of 73.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Star Bulk Carriers to earn $3.20 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 87.5%.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Down 5.3 %

Shares of SBLK traded down $1.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $18.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,180,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,596,057. The company has a fifty day moving average of $20.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.69. Star Bulk Carriers has a twelve month low of $18.92 and a twelve month high of $27.47. The company has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SBLK. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Star Bulk Carriers in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, DNB Markets downgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

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.