LSV Asset Management Decreases Position in Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB)

LSV Asset Management reduced its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,652,918 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 119,900 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Safe Bulkers were worth $5,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SB. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 27.0% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 18,400 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 3,913 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Safe Bulkers by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 25,204 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 4,122 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Safe Bulkers by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 70,987 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 6,534 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 50,794 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 7,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers by 86.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 24,835 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 11,505 shares during the last quarter. 21.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SB. DNB Markets upgraded shares of Safe Bulkers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.20 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Safe Bulkers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of Safe Bulkers in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $4.20 price objective on Safe Bulkers in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Safe Bulkers Stock Up 8.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SB opened at $3.48 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $3.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.91. Safe Bulkers, Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.02 and a 1-year high of $6.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $365.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.92.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.15 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $69.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.90 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Safe Bulkers, Inc. will post 0.62 EPS for the current year.

Safe Bulkers Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.76%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Safe Bulkers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.10%.

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.