Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SHIP) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SHIP) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 304,100 shares, an increase of 35.8% from the October 15th total of 224,000 shares. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 243,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Seanergy Maritime Price Performance

SHIP traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.04. 219,995 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 250,082. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.62. Seanergy Maritime has a 52-week low of $5.29 and a 52-week high of $13.19. The company has a market capitalization of $187.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Seanergy Maritime (NASDAQ:SHIP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The shipping company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.07. Seanergy Maritime had a net margin of 28.37% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The firm had revenue of $44.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.10 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.28) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Seanergy Maritime will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seanergy Maritime Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Seanergy Maritime’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. Seanergy Maritime’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SHIP shares. Noble Financial raised shares of Seanergy Maritime to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Seanergy Maritime from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHIP. MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Seanergy Maritime during the third quarter worth $383,000. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its position in Seanergy Maritime by 3.7% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 40,332 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,447 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in Seanergy Maritime by 77.9% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,017 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,321 shares during the last quarter. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Seanergy Maritime in the 3rd quarter valued at about $194,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC lifted its stake in Seanergy Maritime by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 480,336 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,966,000 after purchasing an additional 37,288 shares in the last quarter. 29.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Seanergy Maritime

Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp., a shipping company, provides seaborne transportation of dry bulk commodities worldwide. It operates a fleet of 16 Capesize dry bulk vessels and one Newcastlemax dry bulk vessel with a cargo-carrying capacity of approximately 3,054,820 dwt. The company was formerly known as Seanergy Merger Corp.