Swiss National Bank Trims Holdings in Golden Ocean Group Limited (NASDAQ:GOGL)

Swiss National Bank cut its position in shares of Golden Ocean Group Limited (NASDAQ:GOGL) by 10.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 284,520 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 31,747 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.14% of Golden Ocean Group worth $2,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Folketrygdfondet lifted its stake in Golden Ocean Group by 33.6% during the first quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 8,507,706 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $80,993,000 after purchasing an additional 2,141,051 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Golden Ocean Group by 14.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,465,084 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $104,798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076,285 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Golden Ocean Group by 4.2% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,573,243 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $49,103,000 after purchasing an additional 263,216 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Golden Ocean Group by 285.4% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,658,689 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $45,295,000 after purchasing an additional 2,709,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Golden Ocean Group by 8.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,803,556 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $13,473,000 after purchasing an additional 137,988 shares during the last quarter. 19.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Golden Ocean Group from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 29th. Pareto Securities upgraded Golden Ocean Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 12th. TheStreet cut Golden Ocean Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. BTIG Research cut their target price on Golden Ocean Group from $14.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Golden Ocean Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Golden Ocean Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.00.

Golden Ocean Group Price Performance

Shares of GOGL opened at $7.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.40 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Golden Ocean Group Limited has a one year low of $6.89 and a one year high of $10.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $7.47 and its 200-day moving average is $8.35.

Golden Ocean Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 8th. Golden Ocean Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.40%.

About Golden Ocean Group

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