Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Nordic American Tankers reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as $8.33, while its shares have gained above their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst views remain mixed: Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock to “strong buy,” while MarketBeat’s overall consensus is “Hold” with a $5.33 price target.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.32, beating estimates, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share, implying a 13.1% annualized yield—though its payout ratio is elevated at 183.05%.

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $8.33 and last traded at $8.0380, with a volume of 4915209 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NAT shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nordic American Tankers from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 29th. B Riley restated a "buy" rating on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a report on Friday, August 28th. B. Riley Financial increased their price target on Nordic American Tankers from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Nordic American Tankers from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nordic American Tankers presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $5.33.

Nordic American Tankers Stock Down 0.1%

The company has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93 and a beta of -0.54. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 3.27 and a quick ratio of 3.05.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 27th. The shipping company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.02. Nordic American Tankers had a return on equity of 20.58% and a net margin of 47.04%.The business had revenue of $79.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.18 million. Research analysts anticipate that Nordic American Tankers Limited will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordic American Tankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Nordic American Tankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. Nordic American Tankers's payout ratio is 183.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NAT. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,189,811 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $71,430,000 after buying an additional 460,555 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 6.2% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 12,764,448 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $70,715,000 after acquiring an additional 746,279 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP increased its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 110.1% during the fourth quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 3,700,409 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $12,729,000 after acquiring an additional 1,939,211 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Nordic American Tankers in the second quarter valued at about $6,302,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 949,606 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $5,565,000 after purchasing an additional 66,569 shares in the last quarter. 44.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nordic American Tankers Company Profile

Nordic American Tankers Limited NYSE: NAT is an international tanker company that owns and operates crude oil tankers. The company's fleet is primarily composed of Suezmax vessels, which transport large quantities of crude oil between major ports and energy markets.

Nordic American Tankers provides seaborne crude oil transportation services to oil companies, trading firms and other customers worldwide. Its vessels may operate under voyage charters, time charters or other commercial arrangements, allowing the company to serve changing demand across global shipping routes.

Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, Nordic American Tankers has historically emphasized operating a focused Suezmax tanker fleet and maintaining a presence in international crude oil transportation.

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