Hsbc Holdings PLC Makes New $909,000 Investment in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. $SBLK

Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 40,100 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $909,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Star Bulk Carriers in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 141.7% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,743 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers in the third quarter worth $33,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Star Bulk Carriers in the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in Star Bulk Carriers in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Star Bulk Carriers from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.50.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Performance

Shares of SBLK stock opened at $27.39 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.73. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a one year low of $16.72 and a one year high of $28.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $26.50 and its 200 day moving average is $24.76.

Star Bulk Carriers Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.3%. This is an increase from Star Bulk Carriers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. Star Bulk Carriers’s payout ratio is 160.00%.

Insider Activity at Star Bulk Carriers

In other Star Bulk Carriers news, Director Nikolaos Karellis sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.96, for a total transaction of $539,200.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Nikolaos Reskos sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.49, for a total value of $142,450.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 362,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,335,459.75. This represents a 1.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 98,103 shares of company stock valued at $2,635,792 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Star Bulk Carriers Profile

Star Bulk Carriers Corp is a global shipping company engaged in the ocean transport of dry bulk commodities. The company owns and operates a diversified fleet of bulk carriers, including Handymax, Supramax, Panamax and Capesize vessels. Its ships are designed to carry a broad range of cargoes, such as iron ore, coal, grain, bauxite and phosphate, catering to industrial and agricultural customers worldwide.

The company’s vessels operate on major trade routes across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, connecting producers and consumers in Asia, Europe, North and South America.