Barclays Upgrades Diana Shipping

In a note released Wednesday morning, Barclays analysts upgraded Diana Shipping Inc.

from Underweight to Equal-weight and raised the price target from $11 to $12. The main reason behind the team's upgrade is that Diana will be eligible to re-charter about half of its fleet over the next 12 months. The team explained this should benefit Diana, a dry bulk pure play, because it will allow the company to obtain higher contractual rates as the dry bulk market slowly recovers. According to the team, this should return Diana to profitability in 2015. Additionally, the team sees Diana's "ample liquidity" and disciplined management as a recipe for possible acquisitions or share repurchases.