Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) was the target of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 863,700 shares, an increase of 18.4% from the November 15th total of 729,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 462,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Genco Shipping & Trading

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in the 3rd quarter worth about $812,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Genco Shipping & Trading by 1.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,869,297 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $61,145,000 after buying an additional 33,150 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Genco Shipping & Trading by 70.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 530,523 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,345,000 after acquiring an additional 219,907 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its position in Genco Shipping & Trading by 41.2% during the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 336,460 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $6,561,000 after acquiring an additional 98,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Petrus Trust Company LTA purchased a new position in shares of Genco Shipping & Trading during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $661,000. 58.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Genco Shipping & Trading Price Performance

GNK stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $14.65. The company had a trading volume of 232,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 576,419. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $16.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.36. The company has a market capitalization of $626.40 million, a P/E ratio of 9.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.96. Genco Shipping & Trading has a 1 year low of $14.59 and a 1 year high of $23.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 3.09 and a quick ratio of 2.49.

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

Genco Shipping & Trading Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 25th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from Genco Shipping & Trading’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.92%. Genco Shipping & Trading’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GNK. StockNews.com raised Genco Shipping & Trading from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Genco Shipping & Trading in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.