Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Safe Bulkers, Inc (NYSE:SB)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $8.64 and last traded at $8.5450, with a volume of 112309 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered Safe Bulkers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Safe Bulkers presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.00.

Safe Bulkers Stock Down 0.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $864.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $7.22 and its 200 day moving average is $6.71.

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

Safe Bulkers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 13th. This is an increase from Safe Bulkers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Safe Bulkers’s payout ratio is 38.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Safe Bulkers

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Safe Bulkers in the 2nd quarter worth $22,450,000. Fearnley Asset Management AS bought a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,112,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,690,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers during the second quarter valued at about $4,458,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Safe Bulkers by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,651,114 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $12,778,000 after purchasing an additional 617,711 shares in the last quarter. 21.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.