Golden Ocean Group (NASDAQ:GOGL) Cut to Hold at Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Golden Ocean Group (NASDAQ:GOGL – Get Rating) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, Zacks.com reports.

According to Zacks, “Golden Ocean Group Limited is a shipping company which engaged in the transportation of dry bulk cargoes. It operates primarily in the Capesize and Panamax market. Golden Ocean Group Limited, formerly known as Knightsbridge Shipping Limited, is based in HAMILTON, Bermuda. “

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Golden Ocean Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $12.63.

Shares of GOGL stock opened at $13.50 on Tuesday. Golden Ocean Group has a 1 year low of $7.59 and a 1 year high of $14.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $12.08 and its 200-day moving average is $10.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Golden Ocean Group (NASDAQ:GOGL – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 16th. The shipping company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.24. Golden Ocean Group had a net margin of 43.82% and a return on equity of 28.15%. The company had revenue of $312.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $284.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.18 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Golden Ocean Group will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 3rd were issued a $0.90 dividend. This is a positive change from Golden Ocean Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 26.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 2nd. Golden Ocean Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 136.36%.

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GOGL. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Golden Ocean Group by 104.8% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 839,179 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $9,038,000 after purchasing an additional 429,421 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Golden Ocean Group by 4.4% in the third quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,557,460 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $102,934,000 after purchasing an additional 402,233 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Golden Ocean Group by 76.6% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 566,953 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,992,000 after purchasing an additional 245,994 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Golden Ocean Group by 154.0% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 274,464 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,956,000 after purchasing an additional 166,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Golden Ocean Group by 142.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 279,337 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,597,000 after purchasing an additional 164,227 shares in the last quarter. 35.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Golden Ocean Group Company Profile (Get Rating)

Golden Ocean Group Limited, a shipping company, owns and operates a fleet of dry bulk vessels comprising Newcastlemax, Capesize, Panamax, and Ultramax vessels worldwide. It owns and operates dry bulk vessels in the spot and time charter markets. The company transports bulk commodities, such as ores, coal, grains, and fertilizers.

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