Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in Nordic American Tankers Limited $NAT

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has decreased its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 32.0%, selling 1,297,379 shares, and now owns 2,762,601 shares valued at approximately $6.8 million.
• Research firms have issued mixed ratings on Nordic American Tankers, with Wall Street Zen downgrading the stock from "hold" to "sell," while Jefferies maintains a "hold" rating with a target price of $3.00.
• Nordic American Tankers has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.10 per share, representing a yield of 12.6%, up from the previous $0.07 per share.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT - Free Report) by 32.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,762,601 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 1,297,379 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 1.30% of Nordic American Tankers worth $6,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NAT. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 61.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 4,326,919 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $10,644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,648,496 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,787,400 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $9,468,000 after purchasing an additional 13,300 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 88.0% during the 1st quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 3,135,619 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $7,714,000 after buying an additional 1,467,916 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Nordic American Tankers by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,376,932 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $3,442,000 after buying an additional 44,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Nordic American Tankers in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,150,000. 44.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on NAT. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nordic American Tankers from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $3.00 target price on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Nordic American Tankers has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $3.00.

Nordic American Tankers Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of Nordic American Tankers stock opened at $3.17 on Monday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $2.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.70. Nordic American Tankers Limited has a 52-week low of $2.13 and a 52-week high of $3.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $671.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.29 and a beta of -0.22.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The shipping company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $40.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $53.35 million. Nordic American Tankers had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 2.67%. Equities research analysts forecast that Nordic American Tankers Limited will post 0.24 EPS for the current year.

Nordic American Tankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.6%. This is a boost from Nordic American Tankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Nordic American Tankers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 571.43%.

Nordic American Tankers Company Profile

Nordic American Tankers Limited, a tanker company, acquires and charters double-hull tankers in Bermuda and internationally. It operates a fleet of 20 Suezmax crude oil tankers. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

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