Sage Investment Counsel LLC Takes Position in Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 25,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 83.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 125,238 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $648,000 after purchasing an additional 56,946 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,109,000. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers during the 4th quarter valued at about $89,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 546,562 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,951,000 after purchasing an additional 26,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 107.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 82,417 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 42,598 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.69% of the company’s stock.

Safe Bulkers Price Performance

SB stock opened at $3.74 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $3.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.30 million, a PE ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.90. Safe Bulkers, Inc. has a one year low of $3.31 and a one year high of $6.33.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $69.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.90 million. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 31.65% and a return on equity of 10.04%. On average, analysts forecast that Safe Bulkers, Inc. will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Safe Bulkers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Safe Bulkers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Loop Capital set a $4.20 price objective on shares of Safe Bulkers in a research note on Monday, January 27th. DNB Markets raised shares of Safe Bulkers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.20 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Safe Bulkers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of Safe Bulkers in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th.

Safe Bulkers Company Profile

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.