Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) Stock Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) shares moved above their 200-day moving average, trading as high as $27.41 and last changing hands at $27.25, signaling recent momentum in the stock.
• Analyst sentiment has improved, with multiple firms upgrading the stock and raising targets; MarketBeat shows an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $31.50.
• The company boosted its quarterly dividend to $0.50 per share from $0.37, implying a 7.3% annualized yield, though the payout ratio is high at 118.40%.

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK - Get Free Report)'s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $22.58 and traded as high as $27.41. Star Bulk Carriers shares last traded at $27.25, with a volume of 1,592,510 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SBLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a report on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Star Bulk Carriers from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Star Bulk Carriers presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.50.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 21.80 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $25.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.58.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $230.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.51 million. Star Bulk Carriers had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 6.81%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Star Bulk Carriers Corp. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Star Bulk Carriers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Star Bulk Carriers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.3%. Star Bulk Carriers's payout ratio is currently 118.40%.

Insider Transactions at Star Bulk Carriers

In other news, COO Nikolaos Reskos sold 33,103 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.28, for a total transaction of $869,946.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 407,775 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,716,327. This represents a 7.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 83,103 shares of company stock valued at $2,204,562. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 652,982 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $12,139,000 after acquiring an additional 168,491 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 101.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,439 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,849,000 after acquiring an additional 49,968 shares during the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,822,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 73.1% during the 4th quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 40,620 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $781,000 after acquiring an additional 17,154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.91% of the company's stock.

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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