Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Shares of Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) crossed above their 200-day moving average of $3.92, trading as high as $4.40 during recent sessions.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.05, providing a 4.6% dividend yield based on an annualized rate.
• Analyst ratings for Safe Bulkers have improved, with Zacks Research upgrading it from a "strong sell" to a "hold" rating and an average target price of $4.47.

Shares of Safe Bulkers, Inc (NYSE:SB - Get Free Report) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $3.92 and traded as high as $4.40. Safe Bulkers shares last traded at $4.36, with a volume of 285,619 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Safe Bulkers from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Safe Bulkers in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $4.47.

Safe Bulkers Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $4.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.92. The company has a market capitalization of $446.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The shipping company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $65.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.40 million. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 19.25% and a return on equity of 5.80%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Safe Bulkers, Inc will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Safe Bulkers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st were given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 21st. Safe Bulkers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 243,159 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $897,000 after purchasing an additional 29,800 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers in the 1st quarter worth $248,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,630,636 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $6,017,000 after purchasing an additional 91,662 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 167,314 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 10,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Regatta Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. 21.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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