Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) Short Interest Down 6.7% in December

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 775,500 shares, a decrease of 6.7% from the December 15th total of 830,900 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 462,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Genco Shipping & Trading Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE GNK traded up $0.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $14.40. The company had a trading volume of 450,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 366,285. The business’s 50-day moving average is $15.24 and its 200 day moving average is $17.10. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 3.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $615.53 million, a PE ratio of 9.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.99. Genco Shipping & Trading has a 12-month low of $13.51 and a 12-month high of $23.43.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The shipping company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41. Genco Shipping & Trading had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The business had revenue of $99.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.02 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.09) EPS. Genco Shipping & Trading’s revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Genco Shipping & Trading will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.11%. This is an increase from Genco Shipping & Trading’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Genco Shipping & Trading’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GNK shares. StockNews.com cut Genco Shipping & Trading from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.20.

Institutional Trading of Genco Shipping & Trading

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 28,633 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 7,457 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 29,881 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 3,142 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 830.3% in the fourth 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. Accurate Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Genco Shipping & Trading by 92.8% during the fourth quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 66,253 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 31,890 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,190 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.