Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Euroseas Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESEA) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $74.01 and last traded at $73.0030, with a volume of 10592 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESEA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Euroseas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Euroseas in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

Euroseas Trading Up 0.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 4.89 and a quick ratio of 4.82. The company’s 50 day moving average is $64.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.52. The firm has a market cap of $505.98 million, a P/E ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.73.

Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The shipping company reported $4.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.47 by $0.01. Euroseas had a net margin of 60.11% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The business had revenue of $57.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.83 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Euroseas Ltd. will post 15.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Euroseas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. This is a boost from Euroseas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Euroseas’s dividend payout ratio is 15.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Euroseas

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Euroseas in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Euroseas by 387.8% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,117 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Euroseas by 540.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,280 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in Euroseas during the third quarter worth about $89,000. Finally, Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Euroseas during the third quarter worth about $205,000. Institutional investors own 6.27% of the company’s stock.

About Euroseas

Euroseas Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESEA) is an international shipping company specializing in seaborne transportation of containerized and drybulk cargoes. Incorporated in Bermuda with its principal operations and management office based in Athens, Greece, the company owns and charters a diversified fleet of containerships, drybulk carriers and multipurpose vessels. Euroseas provides tailored shipping solutions on time-charter and voyage-charter agreements, serving manufacturers, commodity traders and logistics providers across major trade routes.

Euroseas’s fleet comprises both owned and chartered tonnage, enabling the company to adjust capacity to market conditions and customer requirements.