Marshall Wace LLP Purchases New Position in Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB)

Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 248,860 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $888,000. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 0.23% of Safe Bulkers as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SB. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 25,204 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 4,122 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 70,987 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 6,534 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in Safe Bulkers by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 50,794 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 7,922 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in Safe Bulkers by 86.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 24,835 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 11,505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 137,217 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 11,979 shares during the last quarter. 21.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Safe Bulkers Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE SB traded up $0.02 on Tuesday, hitting $3.52. 60,534 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 620,922. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Safe Bulkers, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.02 and a twelve month high of $6.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $370.13 million, a P/E ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 1.17. The company's 50 day moving average price is $3.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.71.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $69.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.90 million. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 31.65% and a return on equity of 10.04%. Analysts predict that Safe Bulkers, Inc. will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Safe Bulkers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.69%. Safe Bulkers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on SB shares. Loop Capital set a $4.20 price target on shares of Safe Bulkers in a report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of Safe Bulkers in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Safe Bulkers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, DNB Markets upgraded Safe Bulkers from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $4.20 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

About Safe Bulkers

Safe Bulkers, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides marine drybulk transportation services. It owns and operates drybulk vessels for transporting bulk cargoes primarily coal, grain, and iron ore. The company has a fleet of 47 drybulk vessels having an aggregate carrying capacity of 4,719,600 deadweight tons.