Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) Upgraded to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Star Bulk Carriers currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.30.

Star Bulk Carriers Price Performance

Shares of SBLK opened at $18.84 on Friday. Star Bulk Carriers has a 1 year low of $12.06 and a 1 year high of $23.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $17.74 and a 200-day moving average of $16.18.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The shipping company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by $0.21. Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 4.93% and a net margin of 10.98%. The firm had revenue of $159.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $162.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Star Bulk Carriers will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Star Bulk Carriers

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBLK. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 161.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 52,512 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $785,000 after purchasing an additional 32,392 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 561,713 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $8,398,000 after buying an additional 104,439 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 329,342 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $4,924,000 after purchasing an additional 24,835 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 131.6% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 23,526 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 13,370 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the fourth quarter worth $970,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

About Star Bulk Carriers

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.