Investors Buy Large Volume of Star Bulk Carriers Call Options (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 6,785 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 242% compared to the average volume of 1,982 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Star Bulk Carriers

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC increased its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 229.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 404,196 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,575,000 after purchasing an additional 281,552 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 359.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 457,274 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,833,000 after buying an additional 357,720 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 7,313.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 455,254 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,784,000 after buying an additional 449,113 shares during the period. Autumn Glory Partners LLC bought a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers during the 3rd quarter valued at $649,000. Finally, Benson Investment Management Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,259,000. Institutional investors own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $30.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, DNB Markets raised Star Bulk Carriers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $19.30 to $20.20 in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.80.

Star Bulk Carriers Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $15.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 679,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,644,442. The company has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $15.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.74. Star Bulk Carriers has a 52-week low of $14.30 and a 52-week high of $27.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Star Bulk Carriers Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.32%. Star Bulk Carriers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.08%.

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.