Sterling Capital Management LLC Acquires 1,141 Shares of Costamare Inc. (NYSE:CMRE)

Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costamare Inc. (NYSE:CMRE) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 32,113 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costamare were worth $413,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Costamare by 6.1% during the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 21,659 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Kendall Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Costamare by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 242,374 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,115,000 after buying an additional 1,370 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Costamare by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,909 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Costamare by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 59,580 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $766,000 after acquiring an additional 2,242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Costamare by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,606 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 3,213 shares during the last quarter. 58.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective on shares of Costamare in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut Costamare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th.

Costamare Price Performance

CMRE stock opened at $8.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $9.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.65. Costamare Inc. has a one year low of $8.11 and a one year high of $17.58.

Costamare (NYSE:CMRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The shipping company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.03. Costamare had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 15.14%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Costamare Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costamare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.15%. Costamare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.85%.

About Costamare