Autumn Glory Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 27,400 Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Autumn Glory Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 27,400 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $649,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 32,630 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 100.0% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. increased its position in Star Bulk Carriers by 8.5% during the second quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 16,640 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Star Bulk Carriers by 190.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,025 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on SBLK shares. DNB Markets cut shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.67.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SBLK opened at $19.03 on Tuesday. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a 1 year low of $17.91 and a 1 year high of $27.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.16.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The shipping company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $352.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.38 million. Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 13.58% and a net margin of 24.05%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Star Bulk Carriers Corp. will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Star Bulk Carriers Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.71%. Star Bulk Carriers’s payout ratio is currently 102.94%.

About Star Bulk Carriers

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.