OceanPal has pulled off a 1-for-20 reverse stock split in an effort to ensure that its stock stays listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
The bulker owner’s shares have traded below Nasdaq’s $1 minimum bid requirement since 8 February, when it dropped by 38% to $0.74 per share.
As a result, Nasdaq put Athens-based OceanPal on notice for trading below $1 for 30 straight days, thus requiring the company to get its share price to at least that level within six months to avoid being delisted.
“The purpose for seeking shareholder approval to effect the reverse stock split was to increase the per share trading price of the company’s common stock, which the company expects will satisfy the minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on Nasdaq,” OceanPal said in a statement.
Shareholders will receive cash payment for fractional shares at Wednesday’s closing price. The company’s board of directors approved the split on 3 May.
When the split becomes effective on Thursday, the number of OceanPal shares will fall to 1.26m shares from 25.2m shares. Their trading value will correspondingly increase by a factor of 20, thus meeting the $1 minimum bid requirement.
The stock was trading at $0.19 per share as of Wednesday’s late-morning trading.
This is the second time that OceanPal has executed a reverse stock split to keep its stock price at or above $1 since it was spun off from bulker owner Diana Shipping in November 2021 with three older vessels.
The owner of two capesizes and three panamaxes previously implemented a 1-for-10 reverse stock split in December 2022, which lowered its outstanding share count to 10.2m shares from 102m shares.
Nasdaq previously put OceanPal on notice for letting its shares fall below $1 in March 2022.
