Safe Bulkers, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.05 (NYSE:SB)

Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 13th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.05 per share by the shipping company on Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd.

Safe Bulkers has a payout ratio of 28.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Safe Bulkers to earn $0.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.7%.

Safe Bulkers Price Performance

Shares of SB stock opened at $4.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The company has a market cap of $458.58 million, a P/E ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $4.63 and its 200 day moving average is $5.16. Safe Bulkers has a 1-year low of $3.40 and a 1-year high of $6.33.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of Safe Bulkers in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered Safe Bulkers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

About Safe Bulkers

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.