Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE) in a report released on Wednesday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the shipping company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on EGLE. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a hold rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. BTIG Research reiterated a neutral rating on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a report on Friday, January 5th. Alliance Global Partners reiterated a neutral rating on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a report on Monday, February 26th. B. Riley raised their target price on Eagle Bulk Shipping from $52.20 to $63.50 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a hold rating and set a $55.00 price objective (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $56.75.

Eagle Bulk Shipping Stock Performance

Eagle Bulk Shipping stock opened at $62.60 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $692.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.92 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Eagle Bulk Shipping has a 12 month low of $39.15 and a 12 month high of $65.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $61.86 and its 200-day moving average is $53.46.

Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The shipping company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $104.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.16 million. Eagle Bulk Shipping had a return on equity of 4.62% and a net margin of 5.77%. Equities analysts anticipate that Eagle Bulk Shipping will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Bulk Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This is a positive change from Eagle Bulk Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Eagle Bulk Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 156.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eagle Bulk Shipping

In other news, major shareholder Castor Maritime Inc. bought 69,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $62.65 per share, for a total transaction of $4,362,632.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,461,135 shares in the company, valued at $91,540,107.75. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EGLE. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,067 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 831 shares in the last quarter. Gratus Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Gratus Capital LLC now owns 241,921 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033 shares in the last quarter. Paradiem LLC grew its position in shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Paradiem LLC now owns 67,921 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,855,000 after acquiring an additional 8,398 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping by 481.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,115 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 3,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Eagle Bulk Shipping by 118.7% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 30,256 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 16,420 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.60% of the company’s stock.

About Eagle Bulk Shipping

Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc engages in the ocean transportation of dry bulk cargoes worldwide. The company owns, charters, and operates dry bulk vessels that transport a range of bulk cargoes, including iron ore, coal, grains, fertilizers, steel products, petcoke, and cement. It serves miners, producers, traders, and end users.