21,210 Shares in Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) Purchased by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 21,210 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GNK. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,190,467 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $23,214,000 after buying an additional 12,001 shares during the last quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc boosted its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 1,071,959 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $15,318,000 after acquiring an additional 23,101 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 980,097 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $19,116,000 after acquiring an additional 11,151 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 597,860 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $8,334,000 after purchasing an additional 115,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 70.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 530,523 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,345,000 after purchasing an additional 219,907 shares in the last quarter. 58.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Genco Shipping & Trading

In other news, CFO Peter George Allen sold 8,984 shares of Genco Shipping & Trading stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.96, for a total value of $125,416.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $631,703.96. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jesper Christensen sold 13,602 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.96, for a total value of $189,883.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,322 shares in the company, valued at $800,215.12. This trade represents a 19.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,812 shares of company stock valued at $402,216 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Genco Shipping & Trading from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Genco Shipping & Trading Stock Down 1.9 %

GNK opened at $13.15 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $14.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 3.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Genco Shipping & Trading Limited has a twelve month low of $13.08 and a twelve month high of $23.43. The stock has a market cap of $562.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.51, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.99.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The shipping company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $67.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.36 million. Genco Shipping & Trading had a net margin of 18.06% and a return on equity of 7.82%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Genco Shipping & Trading Limited will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.13%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. Genco Shipping & Trading’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.57%.

About Genco Shipping & Trading

Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. is an international ship owning company, which engages in the transportation of iron ore, coal, grain, steel products, and other drybulk cargoes. The company was founded on September 27, 2004 and is headquartered in New York, NY.