Short Interest in Costamare Inc. (NYSE:CMRE) Decreases By 14.6%

Costamare Inc. (NYSE:CMRE) was the target of a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,700,000 shares, a drop of 14.6% from the December 15th total of 1,990,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 293,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.8 days. Approximately 3.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costamare

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CMRE. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Costamare by 128.0% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,360 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 10,308 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Costamare by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 339,566 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,338,000 after purchasing an additional 11,076 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costamare by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 59,177 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 15,092 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costamare by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 21,659 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Costamare by 577.2% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 76,309 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 65,040 shares in the last quarter. 58.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costamare Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE CMRE traded down $0.06 on Friday, reaching $12.29. The stock had a trading volume of 282,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 315,567. Costamare has a 12-month low of $10.14 and a 12-month high of $17.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Costamare (NYSE:CMRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The shipping company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $544.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $434.13 million. Costamare had a net margin of 19.11% and a return on equity of 14.28%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costamare will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costamare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. Costamare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on CMRE. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Costamare in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Costamare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

About Costamare