Share-buyback skeptic Amit Mehrotra has welcomed efforts from a quintet of leading shipowners to repurchase stock over Christmas.
Euronav, DHT Holdings, Diana Shipping, Golden Ocean and Star Bulk have been busy picking up their own shares during the holiday season.
Deutsche Bank analyst Mehrotra explains while he has questioned the wisdom of share repurchases in the volatile shipping sector, the late 2018 buybacks make sense given they are "undoubtedly accretive to equity value in the near to mid-term".
In a report the analyst said the moves were a sign of management confidence for the first time in many years at a time balance sheets are very healthy and sporting low debt levels.
DHT and Euronav both announced share buybacks yesterday, while Golden Ocean and Star Bulk have been incrementally investing in their own stock over the past few weeks.
Diana Shipping was the most active of all, with a plan to spend $15m in buying back almost 4.2 million shares.
