North Star Investment Management Corp. Takes $819,000 Position in Euroseas Ltd. $ESEA

Key Points

• North Star Investment Management bought 15,000 shares of Euroseas (NASDAQ: ESEA) in Q4, a new stake valued at about $819,000, representing roughly 0.21% of the company.
• Euroseas recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.75 (annualized $3.00), implying a yield of about 4.3% and a payout ratio near 15.3%.
• Analysts carry a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with a $62 price target, while the stock trades near $70 and the company shows a low PE (about 3.57) alongside strong profitability metrics (ROE ~27.8%).

North Star Investment Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Euroseas Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESEA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 15,000 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $819,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. owned 0.21% of Euroseas at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ESEA. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in Euroseas by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 19,716 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Euroseas by 387.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,117 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Euroseas in the third quarter worth approximately $89,000. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Euroseas by 14.5% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 19,517 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $1,163,000 after purchasing an additional 2,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Euroseas during the third quarter worth approximately $205,000. 6.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on ESEA. Alliance Global Partners reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Euroseas in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Euroseas from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.00.

Euroseas Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ ESEA opened at $70.01 on Friday. Euroseas Ltd. has a 1-year low of $30.72 and a 1-year high of $74.75. The company has a current ratio of 4.89, a quick ratio of 4.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $490.77 million, a PE ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.73. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $67.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.28.

Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The shipping company reported $4.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.47 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $57.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.83 million. Euroseas had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 60.11%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Euroseas Ltd. will post 17.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Euroseas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Euroseas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. Euroseas's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.29%.

Euroseas Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ESEA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Euroseas Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESEA - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.