Golden Ocean Group Limited (NASDAQ:GOGL) Short Interest Up 8.9% in April

Golden Ocean Group Limited (NASDAQ:GOGL) was the target of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,790,000 shares, an increase of 8.9% from the March 31st total of 3,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,710,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 3.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Golden Ocean Group by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 288,459 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,282,000 after buying an additional 3,939 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Golden Ocean Group by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 475,876 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,750,000 after buying an additional 86,628 shares during the last quarter. BDL Capital Management bought a new position in Golden Ocean Group in the 4th quarter valued at $930,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Golden Ocean Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,042,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in Golden Ocean Group by 557.4% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 249,523 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,966,000 after buying an additional 211,567 shares during the last quarter. 22.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Golden Ocean Group Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ GOGL opened at $14.13 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of 25.23 and a beta of 1.39. Golden Ocean Group has a one year low of $6.89 and a one year high of $14.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Golden Ocean Group (NASDAQ:GOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The shipping company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $196.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.19 million. Golden Ocean Group had a return on equity of 5.91% and a net margin of 12.68%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Golden Ocean Group will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Golden Ocean Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.49%. This is a positive change from Golden Ocean Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. Golden Ocean Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 214.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BTIG Research reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Golden Ocean Group in a report on Friday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Golden Ocean Group in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Golden Ocean Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.50.

Golden Ocean Group Company Profile

Golden Ocean Group Limited, a shipping company, owns and operates a fleet of dry bulk vessels worldwide. The company's dry bulk vessels comprise Newcastlemax, Capesize, and Panamax vessels operating in the spot and time charter markets. It also transports a range of bulk commodities, including ores, coal, grains, and fertilizers.