Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) Shares Acquired by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) by 23.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,293 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 4,680 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Safe Bulkers were worth $87,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,306,479 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $11,804,000 after buying an additional 32,293 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,796,424 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $6,413,000 after buying an additional 257,136 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 691,769 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,470,000 after buying an additional 75,200 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 546,562 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,951,000 after buying an additional 26,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 148.6% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 391,015 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after buying an additional 233,743 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.69% of the company’s stock.

Safe Bulkers Price Performance

SB opened at $3.76 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $395.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.17. Safe Bulkers, Inc. has a 1 year low of $3.02 and a 1 year high of $6.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $3.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.67.

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

Safe Bulkers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.33%. Safe Bulkers’s payout ratio is presently 24.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SB shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of Safe Bulkers in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. DNB Markets raised Safe Bulkers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.20 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut Safe Bulkers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $4.20 price objective on Safe Bulkers in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

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.