Acadian Asset Management LLC Has $9.41 Million Holdings in Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB)

Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) by 135.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,898,533 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 1,091,277 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Safe Bulkers were worth $9,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of SB. Regatta Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Safe Bulkers in the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Welch Group LLC grew its holdings in Safe Bulkers by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 13,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Safe Bulkers in the fourth quarter worth $85,000. Simplicity Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Safe Bulkers in the fourth quarter worth $85,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Safe Bulkers by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 281,172 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after buying an additional 43,070 shares during the last quarter. 21.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Safe Bulkers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st.

Safe Bulkers Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE SB traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $5.47. 426,803 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 458,960. The stock has a market cap of $584.00 million, a P/E ratio of 8.04 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.00. Safe Bulkers, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2.97 and a 1-year high of $6.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 2.55.

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $81.67 million for the quarter. Safe Bulkers had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 10.29%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Safe Bulkers, Inc. will post 0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Safe Bulkers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Safe Bulkers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.41%.

Safe Bulkers Company 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.