Short Interest in Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) Rises By 26.9%

Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,360,000 shares, a growth of 26.9% from the May 31st total of 1,860,000 shares. Currently, 3.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 622,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Safe Bulkers Stock Performance

Safe Bulkers stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $5.82. 703,146 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 645,137. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $5.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.81. The firm has a market cap of $621.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.56 and a beta of 0.93. Safe Bulkers has a fifty-two week low of $2.97 and a fifty-two week high of $6.33.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $81.67 million for the quarter. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 10.29%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Safe Bulkers will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Safe Bulkers Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Safe Bulkers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Safe Bulkers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st.

Institutional Trading of Safe Bulkers

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SB. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Welch Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 13,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers in the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 432.8% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 15,031 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 12,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers in the 4th quarter worth approximately $85,000. 21.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Safe Bulkers

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.