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

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $6.00 price target on the shipping company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 62.38% from the stock’s current price.

SB has been the subject of a number of other reports. DNB Markets upgraded Safe Bulkers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.20 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of Safe Bulkers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Safe Bulkers Stock Up 2.9 %

Safe Bulkers stock opened at $3.70 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $3.56 and a 200-day moving average of $4.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Safe Bulkers has a twelve month low of $3.31 and a twelve month high of $6.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $394.55 million, a PE ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 33.17% and a return on equity of 11.58%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Safe Bulkers will post 0.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Safe Bulkers

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SB. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in Safe Bulkers during the fourth quarter worth about $1,000,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,008 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 5,596 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers by 128.7% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 288,541 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 162,351 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 317,576 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 88,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 21.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.