Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

ESEA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Alliance Global Partners reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Euroseas in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Euroseas from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Euroseas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Euroseas currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Euroseas Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:ESEA opened at $66.43 on Tuesday. Euroseas has a twelve month low of $45.79 and a twelve month high of $78.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $469.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 5.38, a current ratio of 5.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $68.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.30.

Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 21st. The shipping company reported $4.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.44. Euroseas had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 58.31%.The company had revenue of $55.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.61 million. Equities research analysts expect that Euroseas will post 18.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Euroseas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This is a boost from Euroseas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Euroseas’s payout ratio is currently 16.86%.

Institutional Trading of Euroseas

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new position in Euroseas in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Euroseas by 387.8% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,117 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Euroseas by 540.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,280 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Euroseas during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $89,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Euroseas in the 4th quarter valued at $204,000. Institutional investors own 6.27% of the company’s stock.

About Euroseas

Euroseas Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESEA) is an international shipping company specializing in seaborne transportation of containerized and drybulk cargoes. Incorporated in Bermuda with its principal operations and management office based in Athens, Greece, the company owns and charters a diversified fleet of containerships, drybulk carriers and multipurpose vessels. Euroseas provides tailored shipping solutions on time-charter and voyage-charter agreements, serving manufacturers, commodity traders and logistics providers across major trade routes.

Euroseas’s fleet comprises both owned and chartered tonnage, enabling the company to adjust capacity to market conditions and customer requirements.