Essex Financial Services Inc. Has $415,000 Stock Holdings in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lessened its position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,728 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 6,630 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Star Bulk Carriers were worth $415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 39.8% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,365 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,063 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,129 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 1,083 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 26.4% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,641 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 1,385 shares during the period. Finally, Guidance Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 25,103 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 1,434 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SBLK has been the topic of several analyst reports. DNB Markets raised Star Bulk Carriers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $19.30 to $20.20 in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.80.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Star Bulk Carriers stock opened at $16.00 on Friday. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a 1 year low of $14.30 and a 1 year high of $27.47. The business has a 50-day moving average of $15.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.72. The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Star Bulk Carriers Cuts Dividend

The firm 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 was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.00%. Star Bulk Carriers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.08%.

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.