Strs Ohio Takes Position in Costamare Inc. $CMRE

Key Points

• Strs Ohio recently acquired a new stake in Costamare Inc., purchasing 24,800 shares valued at approximately $244,000 during the first quarter.
• Costamare has received a shift in analyst sentiment, with Zacks Research upgrading its rating from "strong sell" to "strong buy," reflecting growing positive outlook from the investment community.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.115 per share, indicating a 3.6% yield based on an annualized dividend payout ratio of 19.49%.

Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Costamare Inc. (NYSE:CMRE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 24,800 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CMRE. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costamare during the first quarter valued at approximately $99,482,000. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costamare during the first quarter valued at approximately $6,075,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Costamare by 42.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 479,822 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $4,721,000 after purchasing an additional 142,372 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Costamare by 156.9% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 200,984 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $1,978,000 after purchasing an additional 122,737 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Costamare by 11.1% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,196,506 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $11,774,000 after purchasing an additional 119,106 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Zacks Research raised shares of Costamare from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costamare currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.00.

Costamare Price Performance

Costamare stock opened at $12.72 on Thursday. Costamare Inc. has a 52-week low of $6.63 and a 52-week high of $15.96. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $11.20 and a 200-day moving average of $9.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Costamare (NYSE:CMRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $211.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $209.72 million. Costamare had a net margin of 17.10% and a return on equity of 13.67%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Costamare Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Costamare Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. Costamare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.49%.

Costamare Profile

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