Townsend & Associates Inc Raises Holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK)

Townsend & Associates Inc boosted its position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) by 64.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,004,426 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 394,234 shares during the period. Genco Shipping & Trading makes up about 2.2% of Townsend & Associates Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Townsend & Associates Inc owned about 2.36% of Genco Shipping & Trading worth $17,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GNK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 323,687 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,370,000 after acquiring an additional 58,917 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Genco Shipping & Trading by 494.6% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 132,189 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,193,000 after purchasing an additional 109,959 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,251 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 1,915 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 53,061 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $880,000 after buying an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 80,904 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after acquiring an additional 14,692 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.62% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Genco Shipping & Trading

In other Genco Shipping & Trading news, insider Jesper Christensen sold 12,404 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.80, for a total transaction of $245,599.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $843,222.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Peter George Allen sold 7,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.80, for a total value of $139,312.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 35,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $703,256.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jesper Christensen sold 12,404 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.80, for a total value of $245,599.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,222.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 62,496 shares of company stock worth $1,238,678. Company insiders own 2.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GNK shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Genco Shipping & Trading from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Genco Shipping & Trading from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. TheStreet upgraded Genco Shipping & Trading from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.33.

Genco Shipping & Trading Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of GNK stock traded up $0.04 on Thursday, reaching $22.69. 451,901 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 709,967. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $970.04 million, a PE ratio of -73.06 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 4.46, a quick ratio of 3.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Genco Shipping & Trading Limited has a 52 week low of $12.39 and a 52 week high of $23.43.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The shipping company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Genco Shipping & Trading had a negative net margin of 3.35% and a positive return on equity of 3.10%. The firm had revenue of $117.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Genco Shipping & Trading Limited will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This is an increase from Genco Shipping & Trading’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Genco Shipping & Trading’s payout ratio is currently -529.03%.

About Genco Shipping & Trading

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the ocean transportation of drybulk cargoes worldwide. The company owns and operates dry bulk vessels to transports iron ore, grains, coal, steel products, and other drybulk cargoes. It charters its vessels primarily to trading houses, including commodities traders; producers; and government-owned entities.