Short Interest in Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SHIP) Increases By 35.8%

Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SHIP) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 304,100 shares, a growth of 35.8% from the October 15th total of 224,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 243,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHIP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Seanergy Maritime from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Noble Financial upgraded Seanergy Maritime to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Seanergy Maritime Stock Down 0.3 %

SHIP stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $9.04. 219,995 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 250,082. The company has a market capitalization of $187.13 million, a PE ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Seanergy Maritime has a twelve month low of $5.29 and a twelve month high of $13.19.

Seanergy Maritime (NASDAQ:SHIP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The shipping company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.07. Seanergy Maritime had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 28.37%. The business had revenue of $44.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.10 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.28) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Seanergy Maritime will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seanergy Maritime Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.50%. This is a positive change from Seanergy Maritime’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. Seanergy Maritime’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Seanergy Maritime

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SHIP. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Seanergy Maritime by 193.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 359,347 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,547,000 after purchasing an additional 236,941 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Seanergy Maritime by 217.9% during the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 126,976 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,253,000 after buying an additional 87,028 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Seanergy Maritime by 316.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 213,503 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,107,000 after acquiring an additional 162,201 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Seanergy Maritime during the first quarter worth about $300,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Seanergy Maritime by 33.2% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 635,600 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,273,000 after acquiring an additional 158,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 29.36% of the company’s stock.

About Seanergy Maritime

Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp., a shipping company, provides seaborne transportation of dry bulk commodities worldwide. It operates a fleet of 16 Capesize dry bulk vessels and one Newcastlemax dry bulk vessel with a cargo-carrying capacity of approximately 3,054,820 dwt. The company was formerly known as Seanergy Merger Corp.