Townsend & Associates Inc Purchases 23,101 Shares of Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK)

Townsend & Associates Inc lifted its position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,071,959 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 23,101 shares during the quarter. Genco Shipping & Trading accounts for 1.6% of Townsend & Associates Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading were worth $15,318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 535.8% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,266 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 3,595 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Genco Shipping & Trading by 830.3% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,033 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 9,847 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Genco Shipping & Trading by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,190 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Genco Shipping & Trading during the 3rd quarter worth $202,000. Institutional investors own 58.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Genco Shipping & Trading from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered Genco Shipping & Trading from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Genco Shipping & Trading Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of GNK stock opened at $14.15 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $14.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.11. The company has a market cap of $605.18 million, a PE ratio of 8.09, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. Genco Shipping & Trading Limited has a fifty-two week low of $13.51 and a fifty-two week high of $23.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 3.09.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The shipping company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $67.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.36 million. Genco Shipping & Trading had a net margin of 18.06% and a return on equity of 7.82%. Equities analysts predict that Genco Shipping & Trading Limited will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. Genco Shipping & Trading’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.43%.

Genco Shipping & Trading Profile

Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. is an international ship owning company, which engages in the transportation of iron ore, coal, grain, steel products, and other drybulk cargoes. The company was founded on September 27, 2004 and is headquartered in New York, NY.