Lazard Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 256,734 Safe Bulkers, Inc $SB

Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Safe Bulkers, Inc (NYSE:SB) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 256,734 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,625,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers by 2.0% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,557,921 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $22,522,000 after buying an additional 68,155 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Safe Bulkers by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,651,114 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $12,778,000 after acquiring an additional 617,711 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Safe Bulkers by 5.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,314,711 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $4,739,000 after acquiring an additional 62,931 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Safe Bulkers by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 1,187,934 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,726,000 after acquiring an additional 36,356 shares during the period. Finally, Fearnley Asset Management AS acquired a new position in Safe Bulkers in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,112,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.69% of the company’s stock.

Safe Bulkers Trading Up 1.0%

SB stock opened at $7.89 on Tuesday. Safe Bulkers, Inc has a 52-week low of $3.90 and a 52-week high of $8.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $803.03 million, a P/E ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.47.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The shipping company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $87.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.50 million. Safe Bulkers had a return on equity of 9.63% and a net margin of 28.29%.

Safe Bulkers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. This is an increase from Safe Bulkers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Safe Bulkers’s dividend payout ratio is 30.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Safe Bulkers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Safe Bulkers has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.00.

About Safe Bulkers

Safe Bulkers Inc (NYSE: SB) is a dry bulk shipping company engaged in the ocean transport of commodities such as iron ore, coal, grain, and fertilizers. The company operates a modern fleet of vessels, including Panamax, Supramax and Kamsarmax bulk carriers, designed to serve a variety of trade routes and cargo types. Safe Bulkers’ fleet is employed under both time charter and voyage charter arrangements, offering flexibility to respond to market demand and optimize vessel utilization.

Founded in 2008, Safe Bulkers began trading its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in the same year, establishing itself as a publicly listed provider of dry bulk transportation services.