Short Interest in Costamare Inc. (NYSE:CMRE) Declines By 14.6%

Costamare Inc. (NYSE:CMRE) was the target of a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,700,000 shares, a drop of 14.6% from the December 15th total of 1,990,000 shares. Currently, 3.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 293,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.8 days.

Costamare Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:CMRE opened at $12.29 on Friday. Costamare has a 52 week low of $10.14 and a 52 week high of $17.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.33.

Costamare (NYSE:CMRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The shipping company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.04. Costamare had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 19.11%. The company had revenue of $544.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $434.13 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Costamare will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costamare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Costamare’s payout ratio is 15.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMRE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Costamare in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut Costamare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costamare

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in Costamare by 2.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,213,838 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $19,082,000 after acquiring an additional 30,986 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costamare by 62.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 621,764 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,216,000 after purchasing an additional 239,970 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costamare by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 572,708 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,003,000 after purchasing an additional 29,078 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Costamare by 3.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 433,995 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $6,822,000 after purchasing an additional 15,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Costamare by 985.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 357,557 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,875,000 after purchasing an additional 324,618 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.08% of the company’s stock.

About Costamare