Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE) in a research note released on Tuesday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the shipping company’s stock.

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

Eagle Bulk Shipping Price Performance

EGLE stock opened at $62.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $61.41 and a 200-day moving average of $52.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $692.98 million, a P/E ratio of 40.92 and a beta of 1.49. Eagle Bulk Shipping has a 12 month low of $39.15 and a 12 month high of $65.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The shipping company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 4.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Eagle Bulk Shipping will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Bulk Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This is an increase from Eagle Bulk Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Eagle Bulk Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 156.86%.

Insider Activity

In other Eagle Bulk Shipping news, major shareholder Castor Maritime Inc. bought 69,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $62.65 per share, for a total transaction of $4,362,632.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,461,135 shares in the company, valued at $91,540,107.75. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EGLE. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Eagle Bulk Shipping by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 969,094 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $46,555,000 after buying an additional 35,631 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping by 14.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 861,027 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $39,176,000 after purchasing an additional 106,469 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 542,395 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $36,942,000 after purchasing an additional 11,633 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping by 12.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 501,597 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $21,659,000 after purchasing an additional 55,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Eagle Bulk Shipping by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 340,189 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $16,972,000 after purchasing an additional 30,251 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.60% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Bulk Shipping Company Profile

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.