Stifel Financial Corp Sells 506,341 Shares of Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Stifel Financial Corp decreased its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK - Free Report) by 73.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 178,712 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 506,341 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned 0.21% of Star Bulk Carriers worth $2,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the fourth quarter worth approximately $904,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Star Bulk Carriers by 7,313.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 455,254 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $10,784,000 after buying an additional 449,113 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Star Bulk Carriers by 1,458.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 31,565 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 29,540 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its position in Star Bulk Carriers by 290.6% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 48,637 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $727,000 after buying an additional 36,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 23.4% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 19,082 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 3,616 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 33.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on SBLK. StockNews.com lowered Star Bulk Carriers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Star Bulk Carriers from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Star Bulk Carriers presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.05.

Star Bulk Carriers Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:SBLK traded down $0.02 on Wednesday, reaching $14.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 785,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,839,116. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.65. The business's 50-day moving average price is $15.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.05. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a 1-year low of $12.06 and a 1-year high of $27.47. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.89.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.08). Star Bulk Carriers had a net margin of 24.08% and a return on equity of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $308.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $230.91 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Star Bulk Carriers Corp. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Star Bulk Carriers Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Star Bulk Carriers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.54%.

Star Bulk Carriers Profile

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.