Star Bulk Carriers’ (SBLK) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Jefferies Financial Group

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $22.00 price objective on the shipping company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 13.99% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on SBLK. Zacks Research raised Star Bulk Carriers from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Star Bulk Carriers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.10.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of SBLK opened at $19.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.38 and a beta of 0.92. Star Bulk Carriers has a 12 month low of $12.06 and a 12 month high of $20.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $18.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Institutional Trading of Star Bulk Carriers

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBLK. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 44.6% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,446,191 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $101,245,000 after acquiring an additional 1,681,036 shares during the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new stake in Star Bulk Carriers during the third quarter worth about $73,967,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in Star Bulk Carriers during the second quarter worth about $57,227,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Star Bulk Carriers by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,166,892 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $40,283,000 after purchasing an additional 539,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Star Bulk Carriers by 59.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,868,249 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $26,548,000 after buying an additional 693,683 shares during the period. 33.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Star Bulk Carriers

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.