LPL Financial LLC Has $236,000 Stock Position in Costamare Inc. (NYSE:CMRE)

LPL Financial LLC lessened its position in shares of Costamare Inc. (NYSE:CMRE) by 36.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,365 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 10,329 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Costamare were worth $236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMRE. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Costamare by 291.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 59,016 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $928,000 after purchasing an additional 43,925 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Costamare by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 65,638 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $843,000 after buying an additional 6,461 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costamare by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,077,400 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $13,845,000 after acquiring an additional 170,412 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Costamare by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 223,565 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,873,000 after acquiring an additional 9,100 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Costamare by 3.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 339,566 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,338,000 after acquiring an additional 11,076 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.08% of the company’s stock.

Costamare Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE CMRE opened at $9.21 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $9.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.11. Costamare Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.11 and a 1 year high of $17.58.

Costamare (NYSE:CMRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The shipping company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.03. Costamare had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 15.14%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Costamare Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costamare Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.99%. Costamare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CMRE. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Costamare in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com began coverage on Costamare in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

About Costamare