Short Interest in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) Drops By 34.0%

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,081,406 shares, a decrease of 34.0% from the June 30th total of 1,639,559 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,118,968 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.0 days.

Insider Activity at Star Bulk Carriers

In other Star Bulk Carriers news, COO Nikolaos Reskos sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.49, for a total transaction of $142,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 362,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,335,459.75. The trade was a 1.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Nikolaos Karellis sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.96, for a total value of $539,200.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 98,103 shares of company stock worth $2,635,792 in the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Star Bulk Carriers

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in Star Bulk Carriers by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 4,536 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 20,001 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,695 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 16,902 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 12,399 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

Star Bulk Carriers Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock opened at $28.75 on Friday. Star Bulk Carriers has a 1-year low of $16.72 and a 1-year high of $29.34. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00 and a beta of 0.72.

Star Bulk Carriers Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.0%. This is an increase from Star Bulk Carriers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Star Bulk Carriers’s payout ratio is 160.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SBLK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Zacks Research cut Star Bulk Carriers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Star Bulk Carriers from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.50.

Star Bulk Carriers Company Profile

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.