Bank of America Corp DE Decreases Stake in Euroseas Ltd. $ESEA

Key Points

• Bank of America cut its Euroseas stake by 78.1% in the first quarter, leaving it with 4,472 shares worth approximately $299,000. Institutional investors collectively own 6.27% of the company.
• Euroseas exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $4.70 in EPS versus the $4.09 consensus and $56.5 million in revenue. Analysts maintain an average “Hold” rating, despite one recent upgrade to “Buy.”
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, equivalent to $3.20 annually and a 4.3% yield. Shares recently traded at $73.65, near their 12-month high of $79.67.

Bank of America Corp DE lowered its holdings in Euroseas Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESEA - Free Report) by 78.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,472 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 15,953 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.06% of Euroseas worth $299,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Euroseas by 171.7% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 53,386 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $2,915,000 after buying an additional 33,738 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in Euroseas during the first quarter worth approximately $1,591,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Euroseas during the second quarter valued at about $870,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Euroseas in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,136,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in Euroseas during the third quarter worth approximately $989,000. 6.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Euroseas

In other news, insider Symeon Pariaros sold 950 shares of Euroseas stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.00, for a total transaction of $75,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,100. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 55.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ESEA. Wall Street Zen upgraded Euroseas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research downgraded Euroseas from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Euroseas from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold".

Euroseas Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ESEA opened at $73.65 on Friday. Euroseas Ltd. has a 12 month low of $51.00 and a 12 month high of $79.67. The stock has a market cap of $519.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.41. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $74.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 5.46 and a quick ratio of 5.38.

Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The shipping company reported $4.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.09 by $0.61. Euroseas had a return on equity of 26.58% and a net margin of 59.98%.The company had revenue of $56.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.98 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Euroseas Ltd. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Euroseas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. Euroseas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.47%.

Euroseas Profile

Euroseas Ltd. NASDAQ: ESEA is an international shipping company specializing in seaborne transportation of containerized and drybulk cargoes. Incorporated in Bermuda with its principal operations and management office based in Athens, Greece, the company owns and charters a diversified fleet of containerships, drybulk carriers and multipurpose vessels. Euroseas provides tailored shipping solutions on time-charter and voyage-charter agreements, serving manufacturers, commodity traders and logistics providers across major trade routes.

Euroseas’s fleet comprises both owned and chartered tonnage, enabling the company to adjust capacity to market conditions and customer requirements.

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