Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) Raised to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on SBLK. Zacks Research downgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.00.

Star Bulk Carriers Trading Down 1.8%

Star Bulk Carriers stock opened at $22.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.59 and a beta of 0.73. Star Bulk Carriers has a 1 year low of $12.06 and a 1 year high of $27.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.78.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $230.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.51 million. Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 3.89% and a net margin of 8.07%. On average, research analysts predict that Star Bulk Carriers will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Star Bulk Carriers

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SBLK. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 34.8% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 652,982 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $12,139,000 after acquiring an additional 168,491 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 36.5% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 171,186 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,953,000 after purchasing an additional 45,818 shares during the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,822,000. DNB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 813,351 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $14,030,000 after purchasing an additional 14,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 49,555 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $855,000 after purchasing an additional 3,663 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

About Star Bulk Carriers

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.