Sage Investment Counsel LLC Acquires New Holdings in Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 25,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SB. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in Safe Bulkers during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,480,000. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in Safe Bulkers during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,109,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Safe Bulkers during the third quarter valued at approximately $492,000. Denali Advisors LLC raised its position in Safe Bulkers by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 691,769 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,470,000 after acquiring an additional 75,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Safe Bulkers by 83.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 125,238 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 56,946 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SB. DNB Markets raised shares of Safe Bulkers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.20 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of Safe Bulkers in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Loop Capital set a $4.20 price target on Safe Bulkers in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Safe Bulkers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Safe Bulkers Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of SB stock opened at $3.74 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $3.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.17. The company has a market cap of $393.30 million, a PE ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Safe Bulkers, Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.31 and a 12 month high of $6.33.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $69.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $71.90 million. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 31.65% and a return on equity of 10.04%. Equities analysts predict that Safe Bulkers, Inc. will post 0.62 EPS for the current year.

Safe Bulkers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.35%. Safe Bulkers’s payout ratio is 24.10%.

Safe Bulkers Company Profile

Safe Bulkers, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides marine drybulk transportation services. It owns and operates drybulk vessels for transporting bulk cargoes primarily coal, grain, and iron ore. The company has a fleet of 47 drybulk vessels having an aggregate carrying capacity of 4,719,600 deadweight tons.