Zacks Research Upgrades Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) to “Strong-Buy”

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

SBLK has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Star Bulk Carriers in a report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $29.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a report on Friday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.00.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Down 2.7%

NASDAQ:SBLK opened at $24.17 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.78. The company has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 33.11 and a beta of 0.78. Star Bulk Carriers has a 52-week low of $13.99 and a 52-week high of $27.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.14.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.10. The business 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, sell-side analysts expect that Star Bulk Carriers will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Star Bulk Carriers news, COO Nikolaos Reskos sold 8,406 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total value of $210,570.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 440,878 shares in the company, valued at $11,043,993.90. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 94.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 117,275 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 56,930 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 59.7% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,298,436 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $20,204,000 after acquiring an additional 485,436 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 122,115 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,106,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 673.1% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 49,471 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $853,000 after acquiring an additional 43,072 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,444,000. 33.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Star Bulk Carriers Company Profile

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.