Short Interest in Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) Grows By 13.4%

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 712,600 shares, an increase of 13.4% from the October 15th total of 628,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 435,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on GNK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Genco Shipping & Trading in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $26.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.20.

Genco Shipping & Trading Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE GNK traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $17.49. 136,606 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 585,278. Genco Shipping & Trading has a 12 month low of $14.02 and a 12 month high of $23.43. The company has a current ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $17.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $747.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.98.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The shipping company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.41. The company had revenue of $99.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.02 million. Genco Shipping & Trading had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.09) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Genco Shipping & Trading will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Genco Shipping & Trading’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Genco Shipping & Trading’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Genco Shipping & Trading

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $19,116,000 after buying an additional 11,151 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Genco Shipping & Trading by 499.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 103,387 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after buying an additional 86,147 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 32.8% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 33,996 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $663,000 after buying an additional 8,401 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,190,467 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $23,214,000 after acquiring an additional 12,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 535.8% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,266 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 3,595 shares during the period. 58.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Genco Shipping & Trading Company Profile

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the ocean transportation of drybulk cargoes worldwide. The company owns and operates dry bulk vessels to transports iron ore, grains, coal, steel products, and other drybulk cargoes. It charters its vessels primarily to trading houses, including commodities traders; producers; and government-owned entities.