Marshall Wace LLP Trims Stock Position in Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB)

Marshall Wace LLP lessened its position in shares of Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) by 93.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 53,705 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 766,171 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.05% of Safe Bulkers worth $313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 14.4% in the second quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 16,863 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 2,129 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers in the second quarter valued at about $104,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Safe Bulkers by 26.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,945 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 4,129 shares during the period. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Safe Bulkers in the first quarter valued at about $135,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Safe Bulkers during the first quarter worth about $172,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.69% of the company’s stock.

Safe Bulkers Stock Performance

SB opened at $4.72 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $503.93 million, a PE ratio of 6.94 and a beta of 0.92. Safe Bulkers, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.10 and a twelve month high of $6.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $4.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The shipping company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). Safe Bulkers had a return on equity of 10.78% and a net margin of 31.11%. The firm had revenue of $78.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $69.16 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Safe Bulkers, Inc. will post 0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Safe Bulkers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Safe Bulkers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.41%.

Safe Bulkers 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.