Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) Earns “Buy” Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $6.00 target price on the shipping company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 57.27% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on SB. StockNews.com lowered shares of Safe Bulkers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. DNB Markets upgraded shares of Safe Bulkers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.20 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Safe Bulkers Stock Performance

Shares of Safe Bulkers stock opened at $3.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $407.37 million, a P/E ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.90. Safe Bulkers has a 52 week low of $3.31 and a 52 week high of $6.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $3.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.21.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $69.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.90 million. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 31.65% and a return on equity of 10.12%. Research analysts forecast that Safe Bulkers will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Safe Bulkers

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SB. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers in the third quarter valued at approximately $109,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 10.9% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 112,485 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $583,000 after acquiring an additional 11,040 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers in the third quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 120.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 39,558 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 21,619 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 5.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 519,967 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,693,000 after acquiring an additional 26,398 shares during the period. 21.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.