Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Makes New Investment in Golden Ocean Group Limited (NASDAQ:GOGL)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in Golden Ocean Group Limited (NASDAQ:GOGL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 50,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $488,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOGL. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Golden Ocean Group by 64.1% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 17,626 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 6,884 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Golden Ocean Group by 3.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 43,840 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Golden Ocean Group by 22.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 475,876 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,750,000 after purchasing an additional 86,628 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Golden Ocean Group by 37.0% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 29,460 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,957 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Golden Ocean Group by 39.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 18,219 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 5,142 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 22.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Golden Ocean Group in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Golden Ocean Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Golden Ocean Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.50.

Golden Ocean Group Trading Down 0.9 %

GOGL stock opened at $14.72 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.29 and a beta of 1.32. Golden Ocean Group Limited has a twelve month low of $6.89 and a twelve month high of $14.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business has a fifty day moving average of $13.29 and a 200-day moving average of $10.81.

Golden Ocean Group (NASDAQ:GOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The shipping company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $196.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.19 million. Golden Ocean Group had a return on equity of 5.91% and a net margin of 12.68%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Golden Ocean Group Limited will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Golden Ocean Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This is an increase from Golden Ocean Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Golden Ocean Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 214.29%.

Golden Ocean Group Profile

Golden Ocean Group Limited, a shipping company, owns and operates a fleet of dry bulk vessels worldwide. The company's dry bulk vessels comprise Newcastlemax, Capesize, and Panamax vessels operating in the spot and time charter markets. It also transports a range of bulk commodities, including ores, coal, grains, and fertilizers.