Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.00.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Genco Shipping & Trading from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th.

Genco Shipping & Trading Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GNK opened at $13.39 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.09 and a quick ratio of 2.49. The company has a market cap of $572.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $14.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.51. Genco Shipping & Trading has a 1-year low of $13.08 and a 1-year high of $23.43.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The shipping company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.27). Genco Shipping & Trading had a return on equity of 7.82% and a net margin of 18.06%. The firm had revenue of $67.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.36 million. Analysts forecast that Genco Shipping & Trading will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.97%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. Genco Shipping & Trading’s payout ratio is currently 68.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Genco Shipping & Trading news, CAO Joseph Adamo sold 6,226 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.96, for a total transaction of $86,914.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $374,532.84. This trade represents a 18.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Peter George Allen sold 8,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.96, for a total value of $125,416.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $631,703.96. The trade was a 16.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,812 shares of company stock valued at $402,216 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Genco Shipping & Trading

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 70.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 530,523 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,345,000 after acquiring an additional 219,907 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 155.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 285,091 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,559,000 after purchasing an additional 173,270 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 499.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 103,387 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 86,147 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 51.9% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 65,355 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 22,316 shares during the period. Finally, Townsend & Associates Inc boosted its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 1,071,959 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $15,318,000 after buying an additional 23,101 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.62% of the company’s stock.

Genco Shipping & Trading Company Profile

Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. is an international ship owning company, which engages in the transportation of iron ore, coal, grain, steel products, and other drybulk cargoes. The company was founded on September 27, 2004 and is headquartered in New York, NY.