Empowered Funds LLC Increases Position in Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) by 5.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 255,775 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,998 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading were worth $4,988,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GNK. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 66.6% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,050,030 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $22,376,000 after purchasing an additional 419,730 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 694.2% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 239,213 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,098,000 after acquiring an additional 209,093 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 16.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,096,741 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $23,372,000 after acquiring an additional 154,339 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading during the 2nd quarter worth $3,106,000. Finally, Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading by 43.1% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 482,687 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $9,412,000 after acquiring an additional 145,471 shares during the last quarter. 58.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Genco Shipping & Trading Stock Performance

Shares of GNK stock opened at $17.66 on Monday. Genco Shipping & Trading Limited has a one year low of $13.90 and a one year high of $23.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 3.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.28. The firm has a market cap of $755.11 million, a P/E ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.98.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The shipping company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.41. The business had revenue of $99.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.02 million. Genco Shipping & Trading had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 15.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.09) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Genco Shipping & Trading Limited will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from Genco Shipping & Trading’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.06%. Genco Shipping & Trading’s dividend payout ratio is 101.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on GNK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered Genco Shipping & Trading from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.20.

About Genco Shipping & Trading

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the ocean transportation of drybulk cargoes worldwide. The company owns and operates dry bulk vessels to transports iron ore, grains, coal, steel products, and other drybulk cargoes. It charters its vessels primarily to trading houses, including commodities traders; producers; and government-owned entities.