Voloridge Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK - Free Report) by 28.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,002,252 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 400,674 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC owned about 1.19% of Star Bulk Carriers worth $14,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,240,650 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $18,548,000 after buying an additional 147,659 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in Star Bulk Carriers by 48.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,174,566 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $17,454,000 after acquiring an additional 385,980 shares during the period. Grand Alliance Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in Star Bulk Carriers by 37.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 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, Barclays PLC boosted its position in Star Bulk Carriers by 7,313.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 455,254 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $10,784,000 after purchasing an additional 449,113 shares in the last quarter. 33.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Star Bulk Carriers from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Star Bulk Carriers has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $22.05.

Star Bulk Carriers Price Performance

Star Bulk Carriers stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $16.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,214,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,815,963. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.50. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a 12-month low of $12.06 and a 12-month high of $27.47. The company has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.58 and a beta of 0.89. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $14.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.70.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The shipping company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by $0.21. The business had revenue of $159.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $162.57 million. Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 24.08%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Star Bulk Carriers Corp. will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Star Bulk Carriers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Star Bulk Carriers's payout ratio is 10.10%.

About Star Bulk Carriers

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.