Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) to Issue $0.60 Quarterly Dividend

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 20th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of 0.60 per share by the shipping company on Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th.

Star Bulk Carriers has raised its dividend payment by an average of 215.5% annually over the last three years. Star Bulk Carriers has a payout ratio of 73.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Star Bulk Carriers to earn $3.20 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 87.5%.

Star Bulk Carriers Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SBLK opened at $18.97 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.41 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.67. Star Bulk Carriers has a twelve month low of $18.92 and a twelve month high of $27.47.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SBLK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DNB Markets cut Star Bulk Carriers from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

About Star Bulk Carriers

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.