Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 104,439 Shares of Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) by 22.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 561,713 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 104,439 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 0.67% of Star Bulk Carriers worth $8,398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SBLK. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new position in Star Bulk Carriers in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 177.0% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,676 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Star Bulk Carriers in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,063 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SBLK shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Star Bulk Carriers from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Star Bulk Carriers presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.05.

Star Bulk Carriers Price Performance

Shares of SBLK stock opened at $14.01 on Thursday. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a 52 week low of $12.06 and a 52 week high of $27.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $15.16 and its 200-day moving average is $16.47.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.08). Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 24.08%. The company had revenue of $308.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $230.91 million. Equities research analysts expect that Star Bulk Carriers Corp. will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Star Bulk Carriers Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. Star Bulk Carriers’s payout ratio is 12.54%.

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.