Costamare (NYSE:CMRE) Stock Price Up 4.3% - Should You Buy?

Costamare Inc. (NYSE:CMRE - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 4.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $9.10 and last traded at $9.13. 116,175 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 495,325 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen began coverage on shares of Costamare in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock.

Costamare Trading Up 0.9%

The company's fifty day moving average is $8.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.52. 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 company has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.21.

Costamare (NYSE:CMRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The shipping company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.09. Costamare had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 14.03%. The company had revenue of $440.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $330.14 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Costamare Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Costamare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th were issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.96%. Costamare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costamare

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CMRE. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costamare by 43.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,606 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 3,213 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costamare by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 65,638 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $843,000 after purchasing an additional 6,461 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Costamare by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 223,565 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $2,873,000 after purchasing an additional 9,100 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Costamare by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 508,195 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $6,530,000 after purchasing an additional 8,300 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costamare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $130,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.08% of the company's stock.

About Costamare