Short Interest in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) Grows By 21.6%

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,120,000 shares, a growth of 21.6% from the March 15th total of 4,210,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days. Currently, 6.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Star Bulk Carriers Price Performance

NASDAQ SBLK traded down $0.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $23.09. 2,043,418 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,816,812. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $23.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.31. The company has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 1.12. Star Bulk Carriers has a 1-year low of $16.57 and a 1-year high of $25.16.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $263.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $236.40 million. Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 9.77% and a net margin of 18.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Star Bulk Carriers will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Star Bulk Carriers Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.80%. This is a positive change from Star Bulk Carriers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 11th. Star Bulk Carriers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Star Bulk Carriers by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 404,110 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $9,646,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Star Bulk Carriers in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Star Bulk Carriers in the 4th quarter valued at $727,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Star Bulk Carriers in the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 33.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Star Bulk Carriers from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th.

About Star Bulk Carriers

Star Bulk Carriers Corp., a shipping company, engages in the ocean transportation of dry bulk cargoes worldwide. Its vessels transport a range of bulk commodities, including iron ores, minerals and grains, bauxite, fertilizers, and steel products. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned a fleet of 116 dry bulk vessels with combined carrying capacity of 13.1 million deadweight tonnage (dwt) consisting of Newcastlemax, Capesize, Post Panamax, Kamsarmax, Panamax, Ultramax, and Supramax vessels with carrying capacities between 53,489 dwt and 209,537 dwt.

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