Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 6,630 Shares of Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Essex Financial Services Inc. cut its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) by 19.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,728 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 6,630 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Star Bulk Carriers were worth $415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,063 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 39.8% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,365 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the third quarter worth about $57,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the third quarter worth about $76,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers during the fourth quarter worth about $154,000. 33.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SBLK. StockNews.com downgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DNB Markets upgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $19.30 to $20.20 in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.80.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Up 1.8 %

SBLK stock opened at $16.00 on Friday. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a twelve month low of $14.30 and a twelve month high of $27.47. The company has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $15.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.72. 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a $0.60 dividend. 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 15.00%. Star Bulk Carriers’s payout ratio is 81.08%.

Star Bulk Carriers Profile

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.