Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $18.43 and last traded at $18.48, with a volume of 200989 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $18.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SBLK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Star Bulk Carriers in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, DNB Markets raised shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $19.30 to $20.20 in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Star Bulk Carriers currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.80.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.49.

Star Bulk Carriers Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.99%. Star Bulk Carriers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBLK. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 8.4% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 53,139 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 4,127 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS bought a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers in the second quarter valued at about $9,694,000. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 6.6% during the second quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 25,988 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Unison Advisors LLC bought a new position in Star Bulk Carriers during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $794,000. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its holdings in Star Bulk Carriers by 29.4% during the 2nd quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,025,802 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $25,009,000 after buying an additional 233,000 shares during the last quarter. 33.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Star Bulk Carriers Company Profile

Star Bulk Carriers Corp., a shipping company, engages in the ocean transportation of dry bulk cargoes worldwide. Its vessels transport a range of bulk commodities, including iron ores, minerals and grains, bauxite, fertilizers, and steel products. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned a fleet of 116 dry bulk vessels with combined carrying capacity of 13.1 million deadweight tonnage (dwt) consisting of Newcastlemax, Capesize, Post Panamax, Kamsarmax, Panamax, Ultramax, and Supramax vessels with carrying capacities between 53,489 dwt and 209,537 dwt.