Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Sets New 1-Year High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Nordic American Tankers shares reached a new 52-week high of $7.10, trading near $7.02 after closing at $6.93, with roughly 2.6 million shares changing hands.
• Analysts remain cautious despite the rally: the consensus rating is “Reduce”, with an average price target of $4.00. The company’s latest quarterly EPS of $0.17 slightly exceeded estimates, although revenue fell short of expectations.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share, implying an annualized payout of $0.88 and a 12.5% yield; however, its dividend payout ratio is exceptionally high at 325.93%.

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $7.10 and last traded at $7.0210, with a volume of 2612567 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $6.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nordic American Tankers from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nordic American Tankers currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $4.00.

Nordic American Tankers Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a current ratio of 3.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $6.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.00 and a beta of -0.57.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The shipping company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.01. Nordic American Tankers had a return on equity of 9.16% and a net margin of 24.19%.The business had revenue of $77.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.86 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nordic American Tankers Limited will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordic American Tankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 10th. This is an increase from Nordic American Tankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Nordic American Tankers's dividend payout ratio is presently 325.93%.

Institutional Trading of Nordic American Tankers

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. CenterBook Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 110.1% in the 4th quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 3,700,409 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $12,729,000 after buying an additional 1,939,211 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 108.3% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,429,423 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $7,628,000 after buying an additional 1,263,228 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Nordic American Tankers during the 2nd quarter worth $6,302,000. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 83.9% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,277,830 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $7,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simcoe Capital LLC bought a new position in Nordic American Tankers during the fourth quarter worth about $3,522,000. 44.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nordic American Tankers Company Profile

Nordic American Tankers Limited is a Bermuda-based shipping company specializing in the ownership and operation of Suezmax crude oil tankers. The company’s fleet is employed on the spot and period charter markets, transporting crude oil across major global trade routes. By focusing on commercially flexible employment strategies, Nordic American Tankers seeks to optimize vessel utilization and generate stable income for shareholders.

Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, Nordic American Tankers maintains technical and commercial management arrangements through established ship-management partners.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source