Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Share Price Crosses Below 50-Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Nordic American Tankers shares fell below their 50-day moving average, trading as low as $7.22 versus the $7.70 average, with the latest price at $7.3050.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, resulting in a consensus “Hold” rating and a $6.83 target price. Ratings range from Buy to Sell, including Evercore’s $7.00 price target and B. Riley’s upgraded $10.00 target.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.32, slightly above estimates, and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.27, implying a 14.8% annualized yield—though its 183.05% payout ratio exceeds reported earnings.

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT - Get Free Report)'s stock price passed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $7.70 and traded as low as $7.22. Nordic American Tankers shares last traded at $7.3050, with a volume of 5,387,202 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Nordic American Tankers from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Nordic American Tankers from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd. Evercore reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, B. Riley Financial raised their price target on Nordic American Tankers from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. One investment analyst has 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $6.83.

Nordic American Tankers Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 3.05 and a current ratio of 3.27. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $7.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.09. The firm has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.38 and a beta of -0.56.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 27th. The shipping company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.02. Nordic American Tankers had a net margin of 47.04% and a return on equity of 20.58%. The firm had revenue of $79.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.18 million. As a group, equities 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 given a $0.27 dividend. 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 14.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 10th. Nordic American Tankers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NAT. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in 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. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Nordic American Tankers in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,890,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised 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 valued at $71,430,000 after acquiring an additional 460,555 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 108.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 279,390 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,548,000 after acquiring an additional 145,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Nordic American Tankers during the 2nd quarter worth $1,692,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.29% of the company's stock.

About Nordic American Tankers

Nordic American Tankers Limited NYSE: NAT is a shipping company focused on the international transportation of crude oil. The company owns and operates Suezmax tankers, a class of vessels designed to carry large volumes of crude oil while remaining within the size limits of the Suez Canal.

Nordic American Tankers' vessels serve global crude-oil markets and transport cargoes between major producing and consuming regions. The company's operations are influenced by international seaborne trade, vessel chartering conditions, and demand for crude-oil transportation.

Founded in 1995, Nordic American Tankers is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, and has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since that year.

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