Diana Shipping, Inc. (NYSE:DSX)

A great dividend play and global trade workhorse.

Long term charters at good rates mean steady revenue, no debt, strong (and growing) fleet. Oil prices are a risk, but demand should be strong enough that they can pass them onto customers

Paying any attention to the weather lately? That is a good indication for Port productivity and moral. Better coastal weather, the better the workers feel, which full-circles into better production. More money, more product, more shipping. (Not to mention, China's shipping will experience their monsoon season shortly.)

Temporary pullback. At this price it's a steal. Once the Chinese run out of Iron ore most of the dry shippers will come back.

Strong company, nice dividends

Oh! This one's a keeper. There's a lot of product that needs to get moved.

Dividend payment almost 10%!!!!!!!!!!!

comfort zone---near term to long term

looks good

Dividend yield is high and company has been showing consistent growth in a very focused market.

BPO

I've been watching this one for two years. IExpect it to hit $45 by the end of the year. Dry Bulk Shipping!

Great shipping stock, great dividend

great dividend play

IN THIS STOCK AVG.PRICE $21--1500 SHARES NOTHING BUT GOOD THINGS TO SAY about THIS STOCK GREAT DIVIDENS--LONG TERM CONTRACT FOR THEIR EXPANDING FLEET--

I hold both the stock for the upside and the yield and also hold call options. With the recent market weakness stock has pulled back from 38 to 33. Yet the Baltic Index remains at record levels, so I believe the stock will recover. Like the fundamentals of 70% profit margin, 23% return on equity and 67% revenue growth. Debt/equity is 1/10 DRYS.

Diana Shipping pays a higher than average dividend and is a growth mode acquiring more vessels. They have good long term charters for their current fleet that give a good return on their capital investment.

As oil prices have hit yet another all time high this morning before the U.S. markets open, I am keeping my eyes on Diana Shipping. In light of T. Boone Pickens' recent comments regarding the potential prices of oil in the short term, I'm looking to all alternative methods of shipping that are potentially more efficient than trucking. Check out DSX' dividend yield, which is excellent. This company appears to be very well positioned with a gross profit margin greater than 80% and a low debt-to-equity ratio.

Pros:
* Ocean shipping still a growth industry.
* High dividend yield.

Cons:
* Pays significantly more dividends than earnings per share; offsets the cash outflows by issuing more stock. This has been diluting the ROE by two percentage points annually for the past two years.
* Last year's profitability artificially increased by classifying a vessel sale as recurring revenue.
* Average per-day rental rates, which have been in line with competitors in previous year, have lagged significantly last year.

Verdict:
$29 price target for 2008, $33 price target for 2009.