Okeanis Eco Tankers Corp. (NYSE:ECO) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Key Points

• Okeanis Eco Tankers Corp. experienced a 25.3% decline in short interest in September, with a total of 101,500 shares shorted as of September 15th.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of Buy on the stock, with a target price of $34.50, following a range of upgraded ratings from various analyst firms.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.70, up from $0.32, leading to an annualized dividend yield of 9.6%.

Okeanis Eco Tankers Corp. (NYSE:ECO - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 101,500 shares, a decrease of 25.3% from the August 31st total of 135,900 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 127,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days. Based on an average trading volume of 127,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Okeanis Eco Tankers from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Okeanis Eco Tankers in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ECO. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Okeanis Eco Tankers by 108.2% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 420,789 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,144,000 after buying an additional 218,717 shares in the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Okeanis Eco Tankers by 210.9% during the first quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 122,529 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,906,000 after buying an additional 83,122 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Okeanis Eco Tankers by 56.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 150,568 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,328,000 after buying an additional 54,528 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. bought a new position in Okeanis Eco Tankers during the second quarter valued at about $613,000. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC boosted its stake in Okeanis Eco Tankers by 84.6% during the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 51,189 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,131,000 after buying an additional 23,452 shares in the last quarter.

Okeanis Eco Tankers Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECO opened at $29.14 on Tuesday. Okeanis Eco Tankers has a 1-year low of $17.91 and a 1-year high of $35.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $938.13 million, a PE ratio of 13.94 and a beta of -0.05. The business's fifty day moving average price is $27.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.65.

Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.37. Okeanis Eco Tankers had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 19.52%.The company had revenue of $93.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $56.10 million. On average, research analysts expect that Okeanis Eco Tankers will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

Okeanis Eco Tankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. This is a positive change from Okeanis Eco Tankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.6%. Okeanis Eco Tankers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 133.97%.

About Okeanis Eco Tankers

Okeanis Eco Tankers Corp., a shipping company, owns and operates tanker vessels worldwide. It operates a fleet of 14 tanker vessels comprising six modern Suezmax tankers and eight modern VLCC tankers focusing on the transportation of crude oil. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is based in Neo Faliro, Greece.

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