Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Buys Shares of 63,611 Safe Bulkers, Inc $SB

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers, Inc (NYSE:SB) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 63,611 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $401,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,080,000. Odyssean LLC boosted its stake in Safe Bulkers by 53.1% during the 2nd quarter. Odyssean LLC now owns 118,872 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $750,000 after acquiring an additional 41,228 shares during the last quarter. Manatuck Hill Partners LLC bought a new position in Safe Bulkers during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,641,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Safe Bulkers during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Safe Bulkers during the second quarter valued at approximately $105,000. 21.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Safe Bulkers Stock Performance

SB stock opened at $8.37 on Friday. Safe Bulkers, Inc has a 1-year low of $4.14 and a 1-year high of $9.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $852.52 million, a PE ratio of 10.73 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $7.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.99.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The shipping company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $87.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.50 million. Safe Bulkers had a return on equity of 9.63% and a net margin of 28.29%.

Safe Bulkers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Safe Bulkers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Safe Bulkers’s payout ratio is presently 38.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Safe Bulkers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.00.

Safe Bulkers Company Profile

Safe Bulkers Inc (NYSE: SB) is a dry bulk shipping company engaged in the ocean transport of commodities such as iron ore, coal, grain, and fertilizers. The company operates a modern fleet of vessels, including Panamax, Supramax and Kamsarmax bulk carriers, designed to serve a variety of trade routes and cargo types. Safe Bulkers’ fleet is employed under both time charter and voyage charter arrangements, offering flexibility to respond to market demand and optimize vessel utilization.

Founded in 2008, Safe Bulkers began trading its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in the same year, establishing itself as a publicly listed provider of dry bulk transportation services.