Star Bulk Carriers’ (SBLK) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Jefferies Financial Group

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

SBLK has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Star Bulk Carriers from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Star Bulk Carriers presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.10.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:SBLK opened at $19.30 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $18.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $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 Investors Weigh In On Star Bulk Carriers

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

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.