Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Shares Up 3.3% After Dividend Announcement

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT - Get Free Report) shares shot up 3.3% on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $2.65 and last traded at $2.65. 1,192,265 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 2,525,842 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.56.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be issued a $0.07 dividend. This is a positive change from Nordic American Tankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 12th. Nordic American Tankers's payout ratio is currently 127.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Nordic American Tankers Trading Up 3.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $559.02 million, a PE ratio of 9.10 and a beta of -0.27. The business's 50-day moving average is $2.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.62.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Nordic American Tankers during the 4th quarter valued at $1,202,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 438,641 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 109,093 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 68.8% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 978,100 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $2,445,000 after buying an additional 398,700 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 834.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 545,019 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,363,000 after buying an additional 486,710 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Nordic American Tankers during the 4th quarter valued at about $509,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.29% of the company's stock.

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.