Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SHIP) Short Interest Up 35.8% in October

Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SHIP) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 304,100 shares, an increase of 35.8% from the October 15th total of 224,000 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 243,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Seanergy Maritime Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SHIP traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $9.04. 219,995 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 250,082. The company has a market capitalization of $187.13 million, a P/E ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.65. Seanergy Maritime has a 1 year low of $5.29 and a 1 year high of $13.19. The company’s 50-day moving average is $10.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Seanergy Maritime (NASDAQ:SHIP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The shipping company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.07. Seanergy Maritime had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 28.37%. The company had revenue of $44.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.28) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Seanergy Maritime will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Seanergy Maritime Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.50%. This is an increase from Seanergy Maritime’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Seanergy Maritime’s dividend payout ratio is 42.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Seanergy Maritime

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SHIP. Quarry LP raised its position in Seanergy Maritime by 77.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,017 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,321 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Seanergy Maritime during the third quarter worth $179,000. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new position in Seanergy Maritime during the third quarter valued at $194,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Seanergy Maritime in the second quarter valued at $191,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Seanergy Maritime during the second quarter worth about $213,000. 29.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SHIP. Noble Financial upgraded Seanergy Maritime to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Seanergy Maritime from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday.

About Seanergy Maritime

Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp., a shipping company, provides seaborne transportation of dry bulk commodities worldwide. It operates a fleet of 16 Capesize dry bulk vessels and one Newcastlemax dry bulk vessel with a cargo-carrying capacity of approximately 3,054,820 dwt. The company was formerly known as Seanergy Merger Corp.