Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT) Declares Dividend Increase - $0.07 Per Share

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 30th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, June 12th will be given a dividend of 0.07 per share by the shipping company on Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.61%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 12th. This is a 16.7% increase from Nordic American Tankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06.

Nordic American Tankers has raised its dividend by an average of 88.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Nordic American Tankers has a dividend payout ratio of 68.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Nordic American Tankers to earn $0.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 92.3%.

Nordic American Tankers Stock Performance

NAT stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $2.64. 2,439,681 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,524,317. Nordic American Tankers has a 1-year low of $2.13 and a 1-year high of $4.23. The firm has a market cap of $559.02 million, a PE ratio of 9.10 and a beta of -0.27. The company's fifty day moving average price is $2.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 5th. The shipping company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $46.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.38 million. Nordic American Tankers had a return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 26.41%. On average, research analysts expect that Nordic American Tankers will post 0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 298.7% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 68,325 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 51,187 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 269.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 129,546 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 94,514 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 8.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 221,939 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 18,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 22.6% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 428,298 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $1,054,000 after buying an additional 78,948 shares in the last quarter. 44.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NAT. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $3.00 price target on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut Nordic American Tankers from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday.

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.