Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) Shares Gap Down After Insider Selling

Key Points

• Genco Shipping & Trading's shares gapped down to $17.44 after insider Jesper Christensen sold 34,202 shares at an average price of $18.06, significantly reducing his stake by 33.02%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on the company, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $18.00, despite a recent downgrade to "sell" by Wall Street Zen.
• The company reported a quarterly loss of ($0.14) EPS, slightly better than analyst expectations, but with a 24.4% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $17.98, but opened at $17.44. Genco Shipping & Trading shares last traded at $17.36, with a volume of 63,604 shares trading hands.

Specifically, insider Jesper Christensen sold 34,202 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.06, for a total transaction of $617,688.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 69,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,252,695.78. This represents a 33.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $18.00.

Genco Shipping & Trading Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $761.04 million, a PE ratio of 51.50 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $16.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.32.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The shipping company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $46.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $50.19 million. Genco Shipping & Trading had a return on equity of 1.40% and a net margin of 4.40%.The firm's revenue was down 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Genco Shipping & Trading Limited will post 0.48 EPS for the current year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Genco Shipping & Trading's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 176.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Genco Shipping & Trading

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GNK. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Genco Shipping & Trading by 0.3% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 218,684 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $2,858,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Genco Shipping & Trading by 82.2% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,942 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 876 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Genco Shipping & Trading by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,001 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 924 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Genco Shipping & Trading by 6.7% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 24,016 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 1,516 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Genco Shipping & Trading by 239.0% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,549 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,797 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.

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