Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) Lowered to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) was downgraded by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $21.00 price objective on the shipping company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $30.00. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective points to a potential upside of 9.15% from the company’s previous close.

SBLK has been the topic of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. DNB Markets cut shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Star Bulk Carriers has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.67.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Performance

Shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock opened at $19.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $21.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.07 and a beta of 0.98. Star Bulk Carriers has a 52 week low of $17.91 and a 52 week high of $27.47.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The shipping company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.01). Star Bulk Carriers had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 13.58%. The company had revenue of $352.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Star Bulk Carriers will post 3.47 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Star Bulk Carriers

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the first quarter worth $36,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in Star Bulk Carriers by 112.7% during the 1st quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 792,802 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $18,915,000 after purchasing an additional 420,100 shares in the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 24,388 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 3,150 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the first quarter valued at about $7,814,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 84.6% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,761 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 4,933 shares during the period. 33.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Star Bulk Carriers Company Profile

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.