Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,150,000 shares, a growth of 24.3% from the April 30th total of 1,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 554,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days. Currently, 3.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Safe Bulkers

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Foster Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $57,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,008 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 5,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. now owns 16,500 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 3,155 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.69% of the company's stock.

Safe Bulkers Stock Performance

Shares of SB stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $3.80. 312,497 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 578,885. The firm has a market capitalization of $399.61 million, a P/E ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.91. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $3.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.62. Safe Bulkers has a 52 week low of $3.02 and a 52 week high of $6.22.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 19th. The shipping company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $64.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.92 million. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 31.65% and a return on equity of 10.04%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Safe Bulkers will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Safe Bulkers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Safe Bulkers's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $5.00 target price on shares of Safe Bulkers in a report on Tuesday, May 20th.

Safe Bulkers Company Profile

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.