Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) Shares Up 2.9% – Should You Buy?

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) rose 2.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $13.63 and last traded at $13.54. Approximately 82,336 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 508,848 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GNK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Genco Shipping & Trading Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $14.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.09 and a quick ratio of 2.49. The stock has a market cap of $572.32 million, a P/E ratio of 7.65, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.99.

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The shipping company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $67.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.36 million. Genco Shipping & Trading had a net margin of 18.06% and a return on equity of 7.82%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Genco Shipping & Trading Limited will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Genco Shipping & Trading Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.97%. Genco Shipping & Trading’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Genco Shipping & Trading

In other news, CAO Joseph Adamo sold 6,226 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.96, for a total value of $86,914.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $374,532.84. This represents a 18.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Peter George Allen sold 8,984 shares of Genco Shipping & Trading stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.96, for a total transaction of $125,416.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $631,703.96. This represents a 16.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 28,812 shares of company stock worth $402,216. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Genco Shipping & Trading

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GNK. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Genco Shipping & Trading in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Genco Shipping & Trading during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 535.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,266 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 3,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC bought a new stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in the 4th quarter valued at $147,000. 58.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Genco Shipping & Trading

Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. is an international ship owning company, which engages in the transportation of iron ore, coal, grain, steel products, and other drybulk cargoes. The company was founded on September 27, 2004 and is headquartered in New York, NY.