Star Bulk Carriers Corp. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.70 (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 7th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a dividend of 0.70 per share by the shipping company on Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 27th.

Star Bulk Carriers has increased its dividend payment by an average of 215.5% per year over the last three years. Star Bulk Carriers has a payout ratio of 66.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Star Bulk Carriers to earn $4.47 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.1%.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ SBLK traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $21.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 370,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,526,171. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.43 and a beta of 0.96. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.94. Star Bulk Carriers has a 1 year low of $16.86 and a 1 year high of $27.47.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The shipping company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $352.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.38 million. Star Bulk Carriers had a return on equity of 12.19% and a net margin of 20.57%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Star Bulk Carriers will post 3.73 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SBLK shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Star Bulk Carriers from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th.

Star Bulk Carriers Company Profile

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.