Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Five research firms give GNK a consensus "Moderate Buy" (three holds, one buy, one strong buy) with an average 12‑month target price of $21.00.
• Dividend increase: Genco raised its quarterly dividend to $0.50 (up from $0.15), implying a $2.00 annualized payout and roughly an 8.7% yield.
• Mixed fundamentals: The company beat expectations last quarter with $0.39 EPS (vs. $0.35 est.) and $109.92M revenue (+10.8% y/y), but still reports a negative net margin and negative return on equity.

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.00.

A number of research firms have commented on GNK. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, December 14th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Alliance Global Partners lowered shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th.

Genco Shipping & Trading Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GNK opened at $23.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $996.14 million, a P/E ratio of -209.03, a P/E/G ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 1.17. Genco Shipping & Trading has a 12 month low of $11.84 and a 12 month high of $24.81. The company's fifty day moving average price is $22.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.60.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The shipping company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $109.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.52 million. Genco Shipping & Trading had a negative net margin of 1.28% and a negative return on equity of 0.12%. Genco Shipping & Trading's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Genco Shipping & Trading will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Genco Shipping & Trading's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. Genco Shipping & Trading's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,818.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Genco Shipping & Trading

In other Genco Shipping & Trading news, CFO Peter George Allen sold 13,315 shares of Genco Shipping & Trading stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total value of $315,032.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 66,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,578,169.32. The trade was a 16.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jesper Christensen sold 18,450 shares of Genco Shipping & Trading stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total transaction of $436,527.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 98,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,325,754.34. This represents a 15.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 55,824 shares of company stock worth $1,313,949. 2.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 100.3% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 543,290 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $10,013,000 after buying an additional 272,094 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 727.6% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 215,412 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $3,834,000 after buying an additional 189,383 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 705.9% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 133,631 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $2,379,000 after buying an additional 117,049 shares in the last quarter. Credit Agricole S A purchased a new stake in Genco Shipping & Trading during the third quarter worth about $1,801,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 49.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 296,188 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $3,957,000 after buying an additional 97,766 shares in the last quarter. 58.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Genco Shipping & Trading

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited is a leading global owner and operator of drybulk vessels, providing seaborne transportation services for major commodities such as iron ore, coal, grain and fertilizers. The company's fleet comprises Capesize, Panamax and Supramax vessels, which are chartered to a broad base of international charterers under both spot and period contracts. Genco's focus on modern, fuel-efficient tonnage supports reliable cargo delivery across a variety of trade routes and market conditions.

In addition to vessel ownership and operation, Genco offers ship management, maintenance and technical support services designed to maximize fleet performance and safety.

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.