Star Bulk Carriers Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 10,723 call options on the company. This is an increase of 369% compared to the typical volume of 2,287 call options.

Star Bulk Carriers Trading Up 6.9 %

Shares of SBLK opened at $13.53 on Thursday. Star Bulk Carriers has a 1-year low of $12.06 and a 1-year high of $27.47. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.77.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $308.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $230.91 million. Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 24.08%. Equities analysts forecast that Star Bulk Carriers will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Star Bulk Carriers Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Star Bulk Carriers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on SBLK. StockNews.com lowered Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Star Bulk Carriers from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.05.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Star Bulk Carriers

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 7,313.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 455,254 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,784,000 after acquiring an additional 449,113 shares during the period. Praetorian PR LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the fourth quarter worth $6,267,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 152.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 685,053 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $16,229,000 after purchasing an additional 413,423 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 48.9% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Star Bulk Carriers by 359.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 457,274 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,833,000 after buying an additional 357,720 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

Star Bulk Carriers Company 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.