Denali Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB)

Denali Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 691,769 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 75,200 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC’s holdings in Safe Bulkers were worth $2,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Safe Bulkers by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,653,002 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $8,563,000 after acquiring an additional 29,178 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 546,562 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,951,000 after purchasing an additional 26,595 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,480,000. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,109,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 213,359 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 28,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.69% of the company’s stock.

Safe Bulkers Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SB opened at $3.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Safe Bulkers, Inc. has a 1 year low of $3.31 and a 1 year high of $6.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $409.62 million, a PE ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $3.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.19.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 31.65% and a return on equity of 10.04%. The company had revenue of $69.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $71.90 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Safe Bulkers, Inc. will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Safe Bulkers Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.14%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Safe Bulkers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.