Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE) Now Covered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE) in a report issued on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the shipping company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping from $52.20 to $63.50 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a hold rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Alliance Global Partners restated a neutral rating on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a hold rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, BTIG Research restated a neutral rating on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a research report on Friday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $56.75.

Eagle Bulk Shipping Price Performance

EGLE opened at $62.60 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.51. Eagle Bulk Shipping has a 52 week low of $39.15 and a 52 week high of $65.09. The company has a market cap of $692.98 million, a PE ratio of 40.92 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The shipping company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $104.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.16 million. Eagle Bulk Shipping had a return on equity of 4.62% and a net margin of 5.77%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Eagle Bulk Shipping will post 4.86 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Bulk Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. This is a boost from Eagle Bulk Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. Eagle Bulk Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is presently 156.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eagle Bulk Shipping news, major shareholder Castor Maritime Inc. acquired 69,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $62.65 per share, with a total value of $4,362,632.75. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 1,461,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,540,107.75. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Bulk Shipping

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Eagle Bulk Shipping during the first quarter worth approximately $24,286,000. Paradiem LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping by 126.5% during the fourth quarter. Paradiem LLC now owns 153,872 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $8,525,000 after purchasing an additional 85,951 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in the fourth quarter valued at $3,077,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Eagle Bulk Shipping in the third quarter valued at $2,156,000. Finally, Ballast Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Eagle Bulk Shipping during the third quarter worth about $1,128,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.60% of the company’s stock.

About Eagle Bulk Shipping

Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc engages in the ocean transportation of dry bulk cargoes worldwide. The company owns, charters, and operates dry bulk vessels that transport a range of bulk cargoes, including iron ore, coal, grains, fertilizers, steel products, petcoke, and cement. It serves miners, producers, traders, and end users.