DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ:DRYS) shares more than doubled Tuesday on heavy volume.
The 150 million or so shares — versus average trading volume of less than 7 million — can be attributed to the completion of an equity investment by Kalani Investments Ltd.
Here’s what you should know about it:
- The dry bulk shipping company disclosed a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late yesterday, saying it sold 31.8 million shares of its common stock to Kalani.
- The sale took place between Dec. 23, 2016 and Jan. 30.
- It was to the amount of $200 million, amounting to about $6.30 a share.
- About 1.4 million shares of DryShips Inc. exchanged hands about 45 minutes ahead of the open, compared with the full-day average of 6.8 million shares.
- Kalani may have already sold the shares to the public, according to CNBC‘s Karen Finerman. She added that it is unclear if they had, but they may have been sold to “who they hoped would be the bigger fools,” Finerman said.
Of course, while DRYS stock was up around 110% near the end of Tuesday’s trading, that still amounted to a tiny rebound compared to the bludgeoning DryShips has taken over the past few years.
Shares are off 99.99% since peaking above $56,000 back in 2013. Of course, that price is adjusted for the four reverse splits by DRYS over the past year — a 1:25, a 1:4, a 1:15 and a 1:8 just a few days ago.
DryShips is one of the biggest casualties of shrinking day rates over the past few years, though more recently, the company has been punished amid reports that the company is being accused of lying to the SEC.
