Presentation

Star Bulk is the largest US listed dry bulk shipping company. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Athens, Greece. The Star Bulk fleet counts 116 vessels, with an average age of ~8 years, with asset size ranging from supramaxes to newcastlemaxes. The company is dual listing on NASDAQ, with a current market capitalization is about USD 660m and net debt was USD 1.45bn as of Q2’20. The largest shareholder in Star Bulk is Oaktree Capital Management (40.6% stake).

The company was among the first to embark on a scrubber installation program, and now have the fleet scrubber fitted with no further equity capex remaining. Since the downturn in 2015-16, Star Bulk has been active in acquiring new vessels. 48 ships have been added during the last two years, by issuing shares around NAV. The expansion has been geared towards larger vessels, and currently roughly 50% of the fleet’s DWT is comprised of newcastlemaxes and capesize vessels.

Following the recent uptick in the drybulk market, Star Bulk looks to be in a good position to finish the year strong. ~60% of Q3 is covered at USD 12,145/day compared with the company’s all-in break even of USD 11,300/day. We estimate the NAV in Star Bulk to USD 8.6 per share, meaning the company currently trades at a P/NAV multiple of 0.85x. With a comfortable balance sheet allowing for further growth and/or the return of dividends, we find this pricing attractive.