Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Position in Torm Plc $TRMD

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Torm Plc by 5.9%, owning approximately 2.12% of the company worth $32.7 million after purchasing an additional 111,194 shares in the first quarter.
• Torm Plc plans to issue a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share on September 3rd, representing an annualized yield of 7.5%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Torm's stock, with an average target price of $27.50 and one investment analyst giving it a Strong Buy rating.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,996,234 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 111,194 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 2.12% of Torm worth $32,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in Torm by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 153,460 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,959,000 after buying an additional 50,589 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in Torm by 52.6% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 58,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $944,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Torm during the first quarter valued at about $184,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in Torm by 63.9% during the first quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 65,159 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,074,000 after buying an additional 25,399 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Torm by 439.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 430,399 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,371,000 after buying an additional 350,555 shares during the period. 73.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on TRMD. Pareto Securities lowered shares of Torm from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Evercore ISI set a $23.00 target price on shares of Torm and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Torm from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.50.

Torm Stock Performance

TRMD stock traded up $0.14 on Tuesday, hitting $21.89. The company had a trading volume of 613,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 854,905. Torm Plc has a 12-month low of $13.60 and a 12-month high of $36.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 2.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $18.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.81. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 0.12.

Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $208.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $207.58 million. Torm had a net margin of 24.90% and a return on equity of 15.73%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Torm Plc will post 6.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Torm Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. Torm's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.45%.

Torm Profile

TORM plc, a shipping company, owns and operates a fleet of product tankers in the United Kingdom. It operates in two operating segments, Tanker and Marine Exhaust. The Tanker segment transports refined oil products, such as gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, naphtha, and gas oil, as well as dirty petroleum products, including fuel oil.