Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of Safe Bulkers in a research note on Thursday, November 14th.

Safe Bulkers Stock Performance

Shares of SB opened at $3.51 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.87. Safe Bulkers has a 12-month low of $3.40 and a 12-month high of $6.33. The firm has a market cap of $374.79 million, a PE ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Safe Bulkers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.70%. Safe Bulkers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Safe Bulkers

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 269.0% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 10,700 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 7,800 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Safe Bulkers in the third quarter valued at about $86,000. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Safe Bulkers in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in Safe Bulkers by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 18,400 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 3,913 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its position in Safe Bulkers by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 16,863 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 2,129 shares during the period. 21.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Safe Bulkers

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.