Safe Bulkers’ (SB) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reiterated their buy rating on shares of Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $6.00 price objective on the shipping company’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Safe Bulkers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Safe Bulkers Stock Performance

SB stock opened at $4.27 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $4.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Safe Bulkers has a 12 month low of $3.45 and a 12 month high of $6.33. The company has a market capitalization of $455.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 0.95.

Safe Bulkers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.68%. Safe Bulkers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Safe Bulkers

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SB. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 269.0% during the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 10,700 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 7,800 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Safe Bulkers during the third quarter worth about $86,000. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers during the third quarter worth about $90,000. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 27.0% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 18,400 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 3,913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 14.4% during the second quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 16,863 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 2,129 shares during the last quarter. 21.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Safe Bulkers

Safe Bulkers, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides marine drybulk transportation services. It owns and operates drybulk vessels for transporting bulk cargoes primarily coal, grain, and iron ore. The company has a fleet of 47 drybulk vessels having an aggregate carrying capacity of 4,719,600 deadweight tons.