Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.60

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 19th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of 0.60 per share by the shipping company on Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th.

Star Bulk Carriers has raised its dividend by an average of 215.5% annually over the last three years. Star Bulk Carriers has a dividend payout ratio of 76.4% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Analysts expect Star Bulk Carriers to earn $2.74 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 87.6%.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Down 1.6 %

SBLK opened at $17.04 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.50. Star Bulk Carriers has a 12 month low of $16.87 and a 12 month high of $27.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.20. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SBLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DNB Markets raised shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $19.30 to $20.20 in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com raised Star Bulk Carriers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Star Bulk Carriers in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Star Bulk Carriers currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.80.

About Star Bulk Carriers

Star Bulk Carriers Corp., a shipping company, engages in the ocean transportation of dry bulk cargoes worldwide. Its vessels transport a range of bulk commodities, including iron ores, minerals and grains, bauxite, fertilizers, and steel products. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned a fleet of 116 dry bulk vessels with combined carrying capacity of 13.1 million deadweight tonnage (dwt) consisting of Newcastlemax, Capesize, Post Panamax, Kamsarmax, Panamax, Ultramax, and Supramax vessels with carrying capacities between 53,489 dwt and 209,537 dwt.