Costamare's latest purchase of 12 dry bulk ships could be seen as good or bad, depending on whom you ask.
The Costis Constantakopoulos-led company had been a pure-play containership owner until it bought 16 bulkers in mid-June.
It announced that it was adding the latest dozen bulkers on Thursday in a background note to a regular dividend announcement.
"I'm not surprised after the first 16 that they were really pretty secretive about it," Stifel analyst Ben Nolan told TradeWinds.
"It's sort of an indication that more was on the way."
Stifel views the transaction as "certainly less risky" than buying more boxships at current prices, given its bullish stance on the dry bulk sector, but the investment is not without risk.
"The downside of course is that they are shifting from a pure-play, and historically investors have not loved mixed fleets like this," Nolan said.
Clarksons Platou Securities analyst Omar Nokta is more optimistic about the aggressive asset move, despite not knowing the specific vessels or pricing details.
"On the surface, we feel dry bulk vessels are undervalued relative to their current and forward implied earnings power," he told TradeWinds.
"So buying ships at prevailing market values today is probably going to be in the money as we proceed through the next few months."
The buying spree makes Costamare one of the fastest-expanding companies in the dry bulk market upturn.
Castor Maritime is the only other US-listed company to be as busy on the secondhand market at the moment, having spent $339m on 15 bulkers and eight tankers between July 2020 and May 2021.
