Safe Bulkers, Inc (NYSE:SB) Shares Bought by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers, Inc (NYSE:SB) by 14.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 243,159 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 29,800 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.23% of Safe Bulkers worth $897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,306,479 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $11,804,000 after purchasing an additional 32,293 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,796,424 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,413,000 after purchasing an additional 257,136 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 1,088,662 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,887,000 after purchasing an additional 26,595 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 490,911 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,753,000 after purchasing an additional 93,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC lifted its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 148.6% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 391,015 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 233,743 shares during the last quarter. 21.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Safe Bulkers Price Performance

Safe Bulkers stock opened at $4.24 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.66. The stock has a market cap of $445.95 million, a P/E ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 1.17. Safe Bulkers, Inc has a 12-month low of $3.02 and a 12-month high of $5.51.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 19th. The shipping company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $64.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.92 million. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 27.32% and a return on equity of 7.93%. Equities analysts expect that Safe Bulkers, Inc will post 0.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Safe Bulkers Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Safe Bulkers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price objective on shares of Safe Bulkers in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th.

Safe Bulkers Profile

Safe Bulkers, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides marine drybulk transportation services. It owns and operates drybulk vessels for transporting bulk cargoes primarily coal, grain, and iron ore. The company has a fleet of 47 drybulk vessels having an aggregate carrying capacity of 4,719,600 deadweight tons.