Short Interest in Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) Expands By 16.9%

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) saw a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,010,000 shares, a growth of 16.9% from the August 15th total of 1,720,000 shares. Currently, 5.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 652,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on GNK shares. TheStreet raised Genco Shipping & Trading from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, June 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, BTIG Research dropped their price target on Genco Shipping & Trading from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Genco Shipping & Trading currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Genco Shipping & Trading

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GNK. Tucker Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 359.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 2,782 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 51,386 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $721,000 after acquiring an additional 4,288 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 34,450 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 8,950 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 55,729 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $782,000 after purchasing an additional 6,154 shares during the period. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 24,328 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 5,132 shares in the last quarter. 52.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Genco Shipping & Trading Stock Down 3.1 %

NYSE:GNK opened at $13.29 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 3.79 and a quick ratio of 3.00. Genco Shipping & Trading has a one year low of $11.92 and a one year high of $19.84. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.43. The company has a market cap of $565.22 million, a PE ratio of 6.82 and a beta of 1.11.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 4th. The shipping company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $90.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.69 million. Genco Shipping & Trading had a net margin of 18.69% and a return on equity of 8.90%. Genco Shipping & Trading’s revenue was down 34.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Genco Shipping & Trading will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. Genco Shipping & Trading’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.77%.

About Genco Shipping & Trading

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