Traders Buy Large Volume of Star Bulk Carriers Call Options (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 6,785 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 242% compared to the average volume of 1,982 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on SBLK. StockNews.com cut shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. DNB Markets raised shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $19.30 to $20.20 in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.80.

Star Bulk Carriers Price Performance

SBLK traded up $0.04 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $15.67. 679,420 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,644,442. The company has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.69. Star Bulk Carriers has a 12-month low of $14.30 and a 12-month high of $27.47. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.74.

Star Bulk Carriers Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.32%. Star Bulk Carriers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.08%.

Institutional Trading of Star Bulk Carriers

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SBLK. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 190.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,025 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Star Bulk Carriers by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,365 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

Star Bulk Carriers Company Profile

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.