StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE)

Stock analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday. The firm set a “sell” rating on the shipping company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on EGLE. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Alliance Global Partners reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a report on Monday, February 26th. B. Riley increased their price objective on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping from $52.20 to $63.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $55.00 price objective (up from $54.00) on shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping in a report on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.75.

Eagle Bulk Shipping Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EGLE opened at $62.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $692.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.92 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $61.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.54. Eagle Bulk Shipping has a 52 week low of $39.15 and a 52 week high of $65.09.

Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ:EGLE) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The shipping company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $104.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.16 million. Eagle Bulk Shipping had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 4.62%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Eagle Bulk Shipping will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eagle Bulk Shipping

In other news, major shareholder Castor Maritime Inc. acquired 69,635 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $62.65 per share, with a total value of $4,362,632.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,461,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $91,540,107.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Bulk Shipping

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping by 102.0% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 612 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping during the second quarter worth approximately $66,000. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its position in shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping by 681.0% during the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,476 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 1,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Bulk Shipping during the fourth quarter worth approximately $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.60% of the company’s stock.

About Eagle Bulk Shipping

Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc engages in the ocean transportation of dry bulk cargoes worldwide. The company owns, charters, and operates dry bulk vessels that transport a range of bulk cargoes, including iron ore, coal, grains, fertilizers, steel products, petcoke, and cement. It serves miners, producers, traders, and end users.