Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Buy" by the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $18.67.

GNK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Genco Shipping & Trading from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Pareto Securities raised Genco Shipping & Trading to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Dnb Nor Markets raised Genco Shipping & Trading to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st.

Genco Shipping & Trading Stock Performance

Shares of Genco Shipping & Trading stock traded up $0.35 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $15.06. 691,929 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 575,369. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.28. Genco Shipping & Trading has a 1 year low of $11.20 and a 1 year high of $21.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $646.98 million, a P/E ratio of 14.48, a PEG ratio of 15.75 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.71.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The shipping company reported ($0.28) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.26) by ($0.02). Genco Shipping & Trading had a net margin of 12.12% and a return on equity of 4.22%. The firm had revenue of $41.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 39.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Genco Shipping & Trading will post 0.48 EPS for the current year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a yield of 4.28%. Genco Shipping & Trading's payout ratio is presently 57.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Genco Shipping & Trading

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,838,759 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $39,572,000 after buying an additional 10,193 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 6,887.1% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,676,967 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $22,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,652,966 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,462,880 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $19,544,000 after purchasing an additional 101,283 shares during the period. Townsend & Associates Inc raised its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 1,261,959 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $15,484,000 after purchasing an additional 190,000 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 990,357 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $13,809,000 after purchasing an additional 10,260 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.62% of the company's stock.

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.