Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Star Bulk Carriers Put Options (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 2,570 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 92% compared to the average volume of 1,342 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Star Bulk Carriers

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,446,191 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $101,245,000 after purchasing an additional 1,681,036 shares during the period. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the third quarter worth approximately $73,967,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the second quarter worth approximately $57,227,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 33.2% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,166,892 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $40,283,000 after acquiring an additional 539,567 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 59.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,868,249 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $26,548,000 after acquiring an additional 693,683 shares during the last quarter. 33.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock opened at $18.24 on Thursday. Star Bulk Carriers has a 12-month low of $12.06 and a 12-month high of $20.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.08 and a beta of 0.75.

Star Bulk Carriers Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from Star Bulk Carriers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Star Bulk Carriers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 84.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SBLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Star Bulk Carriers currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.00.

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.