Trexquant Investment LP Trims Stock Position in Genco Shipping & Trading Limited $GNK

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP significantly reduced its stake in Genco Shipping & Trading by 88.7%, now holding 19,327 shares valued at $258,000 after selling 152,174 shares in the first quarter.
• Genco Shipping & Trading reported a quarterly loss of ($0.14) EPS, slightly beating expectations, but experiencing a 24.4% decline in year-over-year revenue.
• The company cut its dividend to $0.15 per share, leading to a dividend payout ratio of 176.47%, raising concerns about its sustainability amidst decreasing earnings.

Trexquant Investment LP lowered its stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK - Free Report) by 88.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,327 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 152,174 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP's holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GNK. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 1,119.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,462 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 4,096 shares during the last quarter. Randolph Co Inc purchased a new position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading during the 1st quarter valued at about $134,000. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading during the 4th quarter valued at about $166,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 194.1% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,957 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $173,000 after buying an additional 8,552 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.62% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on GNK. Wall Street Zen cut Genco Shipping & Trading from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $18.00.

Genco Shipping & Trading Price Performance

GNK stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Monday, hitting $18.22. The stock had a trading volume of 1,703,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 534,329. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Genco Shipping & Trading Limited has a twelve month low of $11.20 and a twelve month high of $19.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $782.73 million, a P/E ratio of 53.59 and a beta of 1.22. The company's 50-day moving average price is $16.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.40.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The shipping company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.01. Genco Shipping & Trading had a return on equity of 1.40% and a net margin of 4.40%.The company had revenue of $46.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $50.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. Genco Shipping & Trading's revenue was down 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Genco Shipping & Trading Limited will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Genco Shipping & Trading's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 176.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Genco Shipping & Trading news, insider Jesper Christensen sold 34,202 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.06, for a total value of $617,688.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 69,363 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,252,695.78. This trade represents a 33.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Genco Shipping & Trading

Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. is an international ship owning company, which engages in the transportation of iron ore, coal, grain, bauxite, steel products, and other drybulk cargoes. It operates through the Major Bulk and Minor Bulk segments. The Major Bulk segment focuses on Capesize vessels. The Minor Bulk segment consists of Ultramax and Supramax vessels.