Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) Short Interest Down 16.7% in April

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,240,000 shares, a decrease of 16.7% from the March 31st total of 5,090,000 shares. Currently, 5.1% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,110,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Trading of Star Bulk Carriers

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBLK. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Star Bulk Carriers by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,240,650 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $18,548,000 after purchasing an additional 147,659 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 48.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,174,566 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $17,454,000 after buying an additional 385,980 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Star Bulk Carriers by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 813,000 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $12,154,000 after buying an additional 89,600 shares during the period. Grand Alliance Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Star Bulk Carriers by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. Grand Alliance Asset Management Ltd now owns 740,000 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $11,063,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Star Bulk Carriers by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 561,713 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $8,398,000 after acquiring an additional 104,439 shares in the last quarter. 33.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Star Bulk Carriers Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SBLK traded down $0.05 on Wednesday, hitting $14.93. 272,206 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,837,154. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $15.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 0.89. Star Bulk Carriers has a 12 month low of $12.06 and a 12 month high of $27.47.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $308.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $230.91 million. Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 24.08%. Analysts anticipate that Star Bulk Carriers will post 1.74 EPS 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 $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Star Bulk Carriers's dividend payout ratio is 12.54%.

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.