Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest surged 90.3% to 2.06 million shares as of July 31, representing 1.8% of Star Bulk Carriers’ outstanding stock and 1.6 days of average trading volume.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with three Buy ratings and one Hold rating; the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $31.50.
• Star Bulk raised its quarterly dividend to $0.90 per share, implying a $3.60 annualized payout and a 12.4% yield. Insiders have sold 108,103 shares worth about $2.93 million over the past 90 days.

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,057,783 shares, an increase of 90.3% from the July 15th total of 1,081,406 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,252,018 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Star Bulk Carriers from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings raised Star Bulk Carriers from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Zacks Research cut Star Bulk Carriers from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.50.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Performance

SBLK opened at $29.05 on Friday. Star Bulk Carriers has a 12-month low of $16.72 and a 12-month high of $29.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.39.

Star Bulk Carriers Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.4%. This is an increase from Star Bulk Carriers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Star Bulk Carriers's payout ratio is 78.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Nikolaos Reskos sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.50, for a total transaction of $147,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 400,875 shares in the company, valued at $11,825,812.50. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Nikolaos Karellis sold 20,000 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.96, for a total value of $539,200.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 108,103 shares of company stock valued at $2,928,242. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Star Bulk Carriers

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SBLK. Impala Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 167,000 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $3,210,000 after purchasing an additional 47,000 shares during the period. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the 1st quarter valued at $4,788,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers during the first quarter worth $909,000. Fearnley Asset Management AS acquired a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers during the fourth quarter valued at $11,096,000. Finally, Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC acquired a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers during the first quarter valued at $19,893,000. 33.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Star Bulk Carriers

Star Bulk Carriers Corp is a global shipping company engaged in the ocean transport of dry bulk commodities. The company owns and operates a diversified fleet of bulk carriers, including Handymax, Supramax, Panamax and Capesize vessels. Its ships are designed to carry a broad range of cargoes, such as iron ore, coal, grain, bauxite and phosphate, catering to industrial and agricultural customers worldwide.

The company's vessels operate on major trade routes across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, connecting producers and consumers in Asia, Europe, North and South America.

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