Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (SBLK)’s Losses Widen, But Revenue Improves; Is It Safe To Buy This Stock?

What have hedge funds been doing with Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK)?

Heading into the second quarter, a total of five of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long in this stock, down 17% from the fourth quarter of 2014. However, in terms of total value of holdings, investment seems to have increased. Total value of holdings went from $386.08 million by the end of the fourth quarter of 2014 to $350.94 million by the end of the first quarter of 2015, a 9.10% decrease when the figures alone are considered. However, seeing that the stock declined 44.66% in value in the first quarter, it appears that hedge funds who were long on this stock increased their holdings’ values.

As mentioned earlier, Howard Marks’ Oaktree Capital Management had the most valuable position in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK). The second most bullish hedge fund manager is Monarch Alternative Capital, managed by Michael Weinstock, which held a $34.9 million position in 9.61 million shares; the fund has 8.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish comprise Mark Weissman, Adam Cohen and David Coleto’s Caspian Capital Partners, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Seeing as Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) has experienced declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there were a few hedge funds that decided to sell off their entire stakes at the end of the first quarter. Intriguingly, Michael Reeber‘s Andalusian Capital Partners dropped the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds tracked by Insider Monkey, valued at $864,000 comprised by 131,750 shares. Israel Englander of Millennium Management was right behind this move, as the fund cut $309,000 in 47,041. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds at the end of the first quarter.

Despite Oaktree Capital Management’s apparent confidence in the stock by the end of the first quarter, Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK)’s share price and financial performance leads us to not recommend a long position on this stock.

Disclosure: None