Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Euroseas Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESEA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $71.05 and last traded at $71.56, with a volume of 19916 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $68.74.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ESEA. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Euroseas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Euroseas in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Euroseas presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

Euroseas Stock Down 4.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 4.82 and a current ratio of 4.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.43. The stock has a market cap of $468.76 million, a P/E ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.80.

Euroseas (NASDAQ:ESEA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $4.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.47 by $0.01. Euroseas had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 60.11%.The company had revenue of $57.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.83 million. Equities research analysts predict that Euroseas Ltd. will post 15.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Euroseas Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Euroseas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Euroseas’s payout ratio is presently 14.27%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new stake in Euroseas during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Euroseas in the second quarter valued at $45,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Euroseas by 387.8% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,117 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Euroseas by 540.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,280 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 1,080 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Euroseas during the third quarter worth about $89,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 6.27% of the company’s stock.

Euroseas Company Profile

Euroseas Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESEA) is an international shipping company specializing in seaborne transportation of containerized and drybulk cargoes. Incorporated in Bermuda with its principal operations and management office based in Athens, Greece, the company owns and charters a diversified fleet of containerships, drybulk carriers and multipurpose vessels. Euroseas provides tailored shipping solutions on time-charter and voyage-charter agreements, serving manufacturers, commodity traders and logistics providers across major trade routes.

Euroseas’s fleet comprises both owned and chartered tonnage, enabling the company to adjust capacity to market conditions and customer requirements.