Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) Stock Price Breaks Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Safe Bulkers, Inc (NYSE:SB) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $7.18 and traded as high as $8.29. Safe Bulkers shares last traded at $8.2340, with a volume of 1,485,941 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded Safe Bulkers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6.00.

Safe Bulkers Trading Up 2.5%

The company has a market capitalization of $866.09 million, a PE ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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

Safe Bulkers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.0750 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 dividend yield of 3.5%. Safe Bulkers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Safe Bulkers

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Safe Bulkers by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,648,352 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,500,000 after purchasing an additional 57,381 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its stake in Safe Bulkers by 30.3% in the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 87,356 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 20,307 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers during the second quarter worth $301,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers during the 2nd quarter worth about $86,000. Finally, Navellier & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Safe Bulkers in the second quarter valued at approximately $919,000. 21.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Safe Bulkers

Safe Bulkers, Inc is a dry bulk shipping company that owns and operates ocean-going vessels used to transport bulk commodities. Its fleet serves the international maritime trade in cargoes such as coal, grain, iron ore, fertilizers and other raw materials and construction-related products.

Founded in 2007, the company operates a fleet that includes dry bulk vessel classes such as panamax, kamsarmax, ultramax and supramax ships. Safe Bulkers provides transportation services to customers around the world, with vessels trading on international routes and calling at ports across major global shipping regions.

Safe Bulkers is led by President and Chief Executive Officer Polys Hajioannou, who has been associated with the company since its establishment.