Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) Shares Gap Down on Insider Selling

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $17.98, but opened at $17.44. Genco Shipping & Trading shares last traded at $17.36, with a volume of 63,604 shares changing hands.

Specifically, insider Jesper Christensen sold 34,202 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.06, for a total value of $617,688.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 69,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,252,695.78. This trade represents a 33.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GNK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Genco Shipping & Trading currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $18.00.

Genco Shipping & Trading Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $763.74 million, a P/E ratio of 52.29 and a beta of 1.22.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The shipping company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.01. Genco Shipping & Trading had a net margin of 4.40% and a return on equity of 1.40%. The firm had revenue of $46.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Genco Shipping & Trading Limited will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Genco Shipping & Trading’s payout ratio is 176.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Genco Shipping & Trading

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GNK. Stifel Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading during the fourth quarter worth $287,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,897 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 3,064 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 374,832 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,225,000 after buying an additional 15,924 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 46,130 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $643,000 after buying an additional 20,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 66,081 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $921,000 after buying an additional 10,084 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.62% of the company’s stock.

About Genco Shipping & Trading

Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. is an international ship owning company, which engages in the transportation of iron ore, coal, grain, bauxite, steel products, and other drybulk cargoes. It operates through the Major Bulk and Minor Bulk segments. The Major Bulk segment focuses on Capesize vessels. The Minor Bulk segment consists of Ultramax and Supramax vessels.