Armor Advisors L.L.C. Decreases Stake in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Key Points

• Armor Advisors L.L.C. reduced its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 8.7%, now holding 334,069 shares worth approximately $5.20 million, making it the company's 10th largest holding.
• Wall Street analysts have adjusted their ratings for Star Bulk Carriers, with one sell, two hold, and two buy ratings, while the consensus target price is set at $22.05.
• Star Bulk Carriers recently reported earnings, posting a loss of $(0.07) per share, which was better than analysts' expectations of $(0.28), while revenue stood at $159.28 million.

Armor Advisors L.L.C. lowered its stake in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK - Free Report) by 8.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 334,069 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 31,694 shares during the quarter. Star Bulk Carriers makes up 4.1% of Armor Advisors L.L.C.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Armor Advisors L.L.C. owned about 0.28% of Star Bulk Carriers worth $5,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,240,650 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $18,548,000 after buying an additional 147,659 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 813,000 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $12,154,000 after purchasing an additional 89,600 shares during the last quarter. Grand Alliance Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. Grand Alliance Asset Management Ltd now owns 740,000 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $11,063,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Star Bulk Carriers by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 561,713 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $8,398,000 after purchasing an additional 104,439 shares during the period. Finally, Ramirez Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 18.4% in the first quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 502,529 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $7,819,000 after purchasing an additional 78,241 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.91% of the company's stock.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:SBLK traded down $0.11 during trading on Thursday, reaching $19.04. 649,547 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,752,805. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.09. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64 and a beta of 0.94. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a 1-year low of $12.06 and a 1-year high of $23.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The shipping company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.28) by $0.21. Star Bulk Carriers had a net margin of 18.62% and a return on equity of 8.20%. The firm had revenue of $159.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $162.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Star Bulk Carriers Corp. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Star Bulk Carriers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Star Bulk Carriers's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut Star Bulk Carriers from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.30.

Star Bulk Carriers 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.