Verition Fund Management LLC Makes New Investment in Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK)

Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 13,183 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GNK. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in Genco Shipping & Trading by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 501,503 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,779,000 after buying an additional 28,314 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading during the third quarter worth $812,000. Algert Global LLC grew its stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 56.0% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 373,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,276,000 after purchasing an additional 133,920 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in the third quarter worth $685,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Genco Shipping & Trading by 70.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 530,523 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,345,000 after purchasing an additional 219,907 shares during the last quarter. 58.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Genco Shipping & Trading Price Performance

Genco Shipping & Trading stock opened at $14.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $628.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.36, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.96. Genco Shipping & Trading Limited has a 52-week low of $14.59 and a 52-week high of $23.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 3.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $16.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.38.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The shipping company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.41. Genco Shipping & Trading had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The business had revenue of $99.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.02 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.09) earnings per share. Genco Shipping & Trading’s revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Genco Shipping & Trading Limited will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from Genco Shipping & Trading’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.89%. Genco Shipping & Trading’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Genco Shipping & Trading in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Genco Shipping & Trading currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.20.

Genco Shipping & Trading Company Profile

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the ocean transportation of drybulk cargoes worldwide. The company owns and operates dry bulk vessels to transports iron ore, grains, coal, steel products, and other drybulk cargoes. It charters its vessels primarily to trading houses, including commodities traders; producers; and government-owned entities.