Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 775,500 shares, a decrease of 6.7% from the December 15th total of 830,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 462,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Genco Shipping & Trading

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. bought a new stake in Genco Shipping & Trading in the 3rd quarter valued at about $812,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 1.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,869,297 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $61,145,000 after buying an additional 33,150 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Genco Shipping & Trading by 70.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 530,523 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,345,000 after buying an additional 219,907 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Genco Shipping & Trading by 499.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 103,387 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,016,000 after acquiring an additional 86,147 shares during the period. Finally, Petrus Trust Company LTA bought a new position in Genco Shipping & Trading during the 3rd quarter worth $661,000. 58.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Genco Shipping & Trading Stock Performance

GNK stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $14.40. 450,764 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 366,285. Genco Shipping & Trading has a one year low of $13.51 and a one year high of $23.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $615.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $15.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.09 and a quick ratio of 2.49.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The shipping company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41. The company had revenue of $99.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.02 million. Genco Shipping & Trading had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 8.46%. Genco Shipping & Trading’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.09) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Genco Shipping & Trading will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.11%. This is a positive change from Genco Shipping & Trading’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Genco Shipping & Trading’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $26.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.20.

Genco Shipping & Trading Company Profile

Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. is an international ship owning company, which engages in the transportation of iron ore, coal, grain, steel products, and other drybulk cargoes. The company was founded on September 27, 2004 and is headquartered in New York, NY.