Teekay Tankers Ltd. (NYSE:TNK) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Teekay Tankers Ltd. (NYSE:TNK - Free Report) by 4.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 797,768 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 37,416 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 2.33% of Teekay Tankers worth $30,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Teekay Tankers by 49.3% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,720 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Teekay Tankers in the 4th quarter valued at about $77,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Teekay Tankers in the 4th quarter valued at about $132,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in Teekay Tankers in the 4th quarter valued at about $143,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Teekay Tankers by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,219 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. 52.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Teekay Tankers Stock Performance

TNK traded down $0.46 on Friday, reaching $44.07. 381,922 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 426,532. The company's 50 day moving average is $44.76 and its 200-day moving average is $41.66. The company has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.72 and a beta of -0.04. Teekay Tankers Ltd. has a twelve month low of $33.35 and a twelve month high of $66.25.

Teekay Tankers (NYSE:TNK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.32). Teekay Tankers had a return on equity of 15.05% and a net margin of 31.45%. The business had revenue of $115.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.31 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.23 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 37.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Teekay Tankers Ltd. will post 7.13 EPS for the current year.

Teekay Tankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Teekay Tankers's previous -- dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a yield of 2.3%. Teekay Tankers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TNK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Teekay Tankers in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Teekay Tankers from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.67.

About Teekay Tankers

Teekay Tankers Ltd. provides crude oil and other marine transportation services to oil industries in Bermuda and internationally. The company offers voyage and time charter services; offshore ship-to-ship transfer services of commodities primarily crude oil and refined oil products; and tanker commercial and technical management services.