Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Reaches New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Nordic American Tankers reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as $8.79 and last at $8.775, up from its prior close of $8.47.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: B. Riley raised its price target to $10 and maintained a Buy rating, but the broader consensus is Hold with an average target of $6.00.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.32, beating estimates, and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share—an annualized $1.08 payout and approximately 12.3% yield.

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as $8.79 and last traded at $8.7750, with a volume of 592,012 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $8.47.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on shares of Nordic American Tankers from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nordic American Tankers from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Nordic American Tankers from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nordic American Tankers has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $6.00.

Nordic American Tankers Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.32. The company has a current ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 3.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85 and a beta of -0.56.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $79.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.18 million. Nordic American Tankers had a return on equity of 20.58% and a net margin of 47.04%. Analysts forecast that Nordic American Tankers Limited will post 0.60 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nordic American Tankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.3%. This is a boost from Nordic American Tankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. Nordic American Tankers's payout ratio is currently 183.05%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC grew its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC now owns 13,666 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 2,087 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 184.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,306 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 3,438 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Nordic American Tankers in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 22,746 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 5,485 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nordic American Tankers in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 44.29% of the company's stock.

Nordic American Tankers Company Profile

Nordic American Tankers Limited NYSE: NAT is a Bermuda-based international shipping company that owns and operates crude oil tankers. The company's fleet is focused primarily on Suezmax vessels, which are designed to transport large quantities of crude oil and are sized to transit the Suez Canal.

Nordic American Tankers employs a combination of voyage charters, time charters and other commercial arrangements to provide crude oil transportation services to customers in the global energy industry.

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