Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Shares Down 7.2% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Nordic American Tankers shares fell 7.2% to $8.155, with trading volume down 81% from its average session volume.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, resulting in a consensus “Hold” rating and a $6.00 average price target, although B. Riley raised its target to $10 and maintained a Buy rating.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.32, beating estimates, and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.27, implying a 13.2% annualized yield; however, its 183% payout ratio exceeds earnings.

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 7.2% on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $8.40 and last traded at $8.1550. 826,956 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 4,276,120 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Nordic American Tankers from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nordic American Tankers from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 3rd. Finally, B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on Nordic American Tankers from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $6.00.

Nordic American Tankers Price Performance

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 company has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87 and a beta of -0.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.37.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The shipping company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $84.18 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Nordic American Tankers Limited will post 0.60 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nordic American Tankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 13.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. Nordic American Tankers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Nordic American Tankers by 184.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,306 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 3,438 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Nordic American Tankers during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Nordic American Tankers during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Nordic American Tankers in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Nordic American Tankers during the 1st quarter valued at $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.29% of the company's stock.

About Nordic American Tankers

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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