Eagle upgraded

A Cantor Fitzgerald analyst has removed her "sell" label from stock in Eagle Bulk Shipping.

Natasha Boyden upgraded the Nasdaq-listed owner's stock to "hold" Wednesday, although she cut her price target from $4 to $3.

Eagle Bulk's Sophocles Zoullas

The analyst had downgraded Eagle's stock to "sell" less than a month ago.

Boyden, who follows shipping stocks for New York-based Cantor, also hiked her earnings estimate from $0.71 per share to $0.76.

She repeated that she has concerns about company debt, although she says she is optimistic about Eagle Bulk's strategy and supramax focus.

Her upgrade comes two days after Eagle reported fourth-quarter profits of $9.16m, down from $16.3m a year earlier. (Read the story here.)

Based in New York, Sophocles Zoullas-led Eagle owns 23 handymax and supramax bulkers, and it has 24 newbuilding contracts.

The company's shares jumped by 40.2% to $4.15 in mid-afternoon trading Wednesday, as dry-bulk shares surged following news of additional Chinese stimulus measures. (Click here to read about the stock market surge.)

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