Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) Shares Bought by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) by 38.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,812 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,254 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Safe Bulkers were worth $196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,653,002 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $8,563,000 after acquiring an additional 29,178 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 691,769 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,470,000 after acquiring an additional 75,200 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Safe Bulkers by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 546,562 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,951,000 after acquiring an additional 26,595 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers in the third quarter worth about $1,480,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Safe Bulkers in the third quarter worth about $1,109,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Safe Bulkers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital set a $4.20 price objective on Safe Bulkers in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of Safe Bulkers in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, DNB Markets upgraded Safe Bulkers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.20 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Safe Bulkers Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE SB opened at $3.74 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $3.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.03. Safe Bulkers, Inc. has a 52-week low of $3.31 and a 52-week high of $6.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.30 million, a P/E ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The shipping company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $69.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.90 million. Safe Bulkers had a return on equity of 10.04% and a net margin of 31.65%. On average, analysts anticipate that Safe Bulkers, Inc. will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Safe Bulkers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Safe Bulkers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.10%.

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.