Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on SBLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DNB Markets raised shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $19.30 to $20.20 in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.80.

Star Bulk Carriers Trading Up 1.3 %

SBLK opened at $16.48 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of 5.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.96. Star Bulk Carriers has a twelve month low of $16.21 and a twelve month high of $27.47.

Institutional Trading of Star Bulk Carriers

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 27.5% in the 2nd quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,052,262 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $50,034,000 after acquiring an additional 442,860 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 101.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,791,426 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $43,675,000 after acquiring an additional 903,542 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 25.9% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,746,070 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $42,569,000 after acquiring an additional 358,870 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 335.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,221,255 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $29,774,000 after acquiring an additional 940,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Philosophy Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the 3rd quarter worth $24,842,000. Institutional investors own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

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.