Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Okeanis Eco Tankers shares experienced a significant opening increase, rising from a previous close of $28.78 to an opening price of $29.73.
• Analysts upgraded Okeanis from a "hold" to a "strong-buy" rating, with a consensus price target of $34.50.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.70 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 9.6%.

Okeanis Eco Tankers Corp. (NYSE:ECO - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $28.78, but opened at $29.73. Okeanis Eco Tankers shares last traded at $29.30, with a volume of 38,778 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ECO shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.50.

Okeanis Eco Tankers Stock Up 0.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The firm's 50-day moving average is $25.64 and its 200 day moving average is $23.53. The stock has a market cap of $977.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.55 and a beta of -0.09.

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

Okeanis Eco Tankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase from Okeanis Eco Tankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. Okeanis Eco Tankers's payout ratio is presently 133.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Okeanis Eco Tankers

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers in the first quarter valued at $4,466,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers by 210.9% in the first quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 122,529 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,906,000 after purchasing an additional 83,122 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 13,108 shares of the company's stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 2,340 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers by 84.6% in the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 51,189 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 23,452 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers by 23.9% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 71,731 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 13,842 shares during the period.

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.