Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) Short Interest Update

Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,070,000 shares, a decline of 21.3% from the February 13th total of 1,360,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 699,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Safe Bulkers

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Safe Bulkers during the 3rd quarter valued at about $90,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers by 120.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 39,558 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 21,619 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 5.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 519,967 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,693,000 after acquiring an additional 26,398 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,480,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Safe Bulkers in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $86,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on SB. DNB Markets upgraded shares of Safe Bulkers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.20 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital set a $4.20 price objective on shares of Safe Bulkers in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of Safe Bulkers in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Safe Bulkers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Safe Bulkers Stock Down 0.1 %

Safe Bulkers stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $3.77. The stock had a trading volume of 694,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 607,312. Safe Bulkers has a 52 week low of $3.31 and a 52 week high of $6.33. The company has a market cap of $396.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $3.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.06.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $69.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.90 million. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 31.65% and a return on equity of 10.04%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Safe Bulkers will post 0.62 EPS for the current year.

Safe Bulkers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.31%. Safe Bulkers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.10%.

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.