R Squared Ltd Makes New $581,000 Investment in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. $SBLK

R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 25,293 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $581,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Star Bulk Carriers by 101.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,439 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,849,000 after buying an additional 49,968 shares during the period. Impala Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. Impala Asset Management LLC now owns 167,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,210,000 after buying an additional 47,000 shares in the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the 1st quarter worth about $4,788,000. Fearnley Asset Management AS purchased a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the 4th quarter worth about $11,096,000. Finally, Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,822,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Star Bulk Carriers from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.50.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Performance

NASDAQ SBLK traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $26.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 661,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,416,322. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a 12 month low of $16.72 and a 12 month high of $28.50. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.88. The company has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.00 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.55.

Star Bulk Carriers Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This is a boost from Star Bulk Carriers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Star Bulk Carriers’s payout ratio is 160.00%.

Insider Transactions at Star Bulk Carriers

In other news, COO Nikolaos Reskos sold 5,000 shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.49, for a total value of $142,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 362,775 shares in the company, valued at $10,335,459.75. The trade was a 1.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Nikolaos Karellis sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.96, for a total transaction of $539,200.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 108,103 shares of company stock worth $2,886,212.

About Star Bulk Carriers

Star Bulk Carriers Corp is a global shipping company engaged in the ocean transport of dry bulk commodities. The company owns and operates a diversified fleet of bulk carriers, including Handymax, Supramax, Panamax and Capesize vessels. Its ships are designed to carry a broad range of cargoes, such as iron ore, coal, grain, bauxite and phosphate, catering to industrial and agricultural customers worldwide.

The company’s vessels operate on major trade routes across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, connecting producers and consumers in Asia, Europe, North and South America.