Analysts Set Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (NASDAQ:EGLE) Price Target at $56.75

Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (NASDAQ:EGLE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.75.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Alliance Global Partners reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a report on Monday, February 26th. BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a report on Friday, January 5th. B. Riley upped their target price on Eagle Bulk Shipping from $52.20 to $63.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Noble Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 target price (up from $54.00) on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a report on Friday, January 26th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Eagle Bulk Shipping during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,496,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Eagle Bulk Shipping during the 1st quarter valued at about $363,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Eagle Bulk Shipping by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,999 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 842 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Eagle Bulk Shipping by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 261,922 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $17,839,000 after buying an additional 11,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Eagle Bulk Shipping by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 542,395 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $36,942,000 after buying an additional 11,633 shares in the last quarter. 70.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eagle Bulk Shipping Price Performance

EGLE opened at $63.01 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $59.08 and a 200 day moving average of $50.52. Eagle Bulk Shipping has a 52-week low of $39.15 and a 52-week high of $65.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $697.52 million, a P/E ratio of 41.18 and a beta of 1.49.

Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 4th. The shipping company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.38. Eagle Bulk Shipping had a return on equity of 4.62% and a net margin of 5.77%. The company had revenue of $104.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.16 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eagle Bulk Shipping will post 4.86 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Bulk Shipping Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. This is a positive change from Eagle Bulk Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Eagle Bulk Shipping’s payout ratio is presently 156.86%.

About Eagle Bulk Shipping

Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc engages in the ocean transportation of dry bulk cargoes worldwide. The company owns, charters, and operates dry bulk vessels that transport a range of bulk cargoes, including iron ore, coal, grains, fertilizers, steel products, petcoke, and cement. It serves miners, producers, traders, and end users.