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

Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) was the target of a large 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 presently 1.5 days. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Trading of Safe Bulkers

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers in the 3rd quarter valued at $86,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,008 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 5,596 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers in the 3rd quarter valued at $90,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers in the 4th quarter valued at $64,000. Institutional investors own 21.69% of the company’s stock.

Safe Bulkers Trading Down 0.7 %

SB stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Monday, hitting $3.78. The company had a trading volume of 722,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 606,779. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $3.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.07. Safe Bulkers has a 12 month low of $3.31 and a 12 month high of $6.33. The stock has a market cap of $397.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.94.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.15 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $71.90 million. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 31.65% and a return on equity of 10.04%. As a group, analysts predict that Safe Bulkers will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Safe Bulkers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Safe Bulkers’s payout ratio is 24.10%.

Safe Bulkers Company Profile

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.