Denali Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Safe Bulkers, Inc (NYSE:SB)

Denali Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Safe Bulkers, Inc (NYSE:SB - Free Report) by 25.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 870,415 shares of the shipping company's stock after purchasing an additional 178,646 shares during the quarter. Denali Advisors LLC owned 0.83% of Safe Bulkers worth $3,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers during the fourth quarter valued at $1,000,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Safe Bulkers by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,796,424 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $6,413,000 after buying an additional 257,136 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Safe Bulkers in the 4th quarter worth $888,000. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Safe Bulkers by 148.6% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 391,015 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 233,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Safe Bulkers in the 4th quarter worth $648,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.69% of the company's stock.

Safe Bulkers Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SB remained flat at $4.13 during trading on Friday. The company's stock had a trading volume of 458,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 569,443. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.63. The firm has a market cap of $434.89 million, a PE ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.17. Safe Bulkers, Inc has a twelve month low of $3.02 and a twelve month high of $5.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 19th. The shipping company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $64.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.92 million. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 27.32% and a return on equity of 7.93%. As a group, research analysts expect that Safe Bulkers, Inc will post 0.62 EPS for the current year.

Safe Bulkers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.84%. Safe Bulkers's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $5.00 target price on shares of Safe Bulkers in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th.

About Safe Bulkers

Safe Bulkers, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides marine drybulk transportation services. It owns and operates drybulk vessels for transporting bulk cargoes primarily coal, grain, and iron ore. The company has a fleet of 47 drybulk vessels having an aggregate carrying capacity of 4,719,600 deadweight tons.