Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.00.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GNK. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th.

Genco Shipping & Trading Price Performance

NYSE:GNK opened at $14.18 on Thursday. Genco Shipping & Trading has a one year low of $13.36 and a one year 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. The firm has a market cap of $606.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.10, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $14.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.81.

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

Genco Shipping & Trading Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.47%. Genco Shipping & Trading’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Genco Shipping & Trading news, CFO Peter George Allen sold 8,984 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.96, for a total value of $125,416.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $631,703.96. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Joseph Adamo sold 6,226 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.96, for a total transaction of $86,914.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $374,532.84. The trade was a 18.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,812 shares of company stock worth $402,216 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Genco Shipping & Trading

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GNK. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Genco Shipping & Trading in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,692,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 70.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 530,523 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,345,000 after acquiring an additional 219,907 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 173.3% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 282,603 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,940,000 after acquiring an additional 179,216 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 155.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 285,091 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,559,000 after acquiring an additional 173,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 43.1% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 482,687 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,412,000 after buying an additional 145,471 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.62% of the company’s stock.

About Genco Shipping & Trading

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.