Short Interest in Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG) Grows By 50.4%

Key Points

• Short interest grew 50.4% in April to 2,150,651 shares (about 4.5% of the stock), leaving a short-interest ratio of 1.7 days based on average daily volume.
• Scorpio Tankers beat quarterly expectations, reporting $1.62 EPS vs. $1.37 consensus and $252.65M revenue, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.45 (annualized $1.80, a 2.3% yield).
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $85.50 price target, and institutional ownership is high at 54.64% after several hedge funds and asset managers added or initiated sizable stakes.

Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,150,651 shares, a growth of 50.4% from the March 31st total of 1,430,119 shares. Approximately 4.5% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,297,456 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on STNG. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a report on Monday, December 29th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a report on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Scorpio Tankers from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Scorpio Tankers to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Dnb Carnegie cut shares of Scorpio Tankers from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Scorpio Tankers during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,471,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 136.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 853,712 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $43,394,000 after buying an additional 492,584 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 68.3% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 806,049 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $45,179,000 after buying an additional 326,973 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 91.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 642,673 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $25,148,000 after buying an additional 307,815 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Credit Agricole S A purchased a new stake in Scorpio Tankers during the third quarter valued at approximately $16,703,000. 54.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scorpio Tankers Stock Up 1.8%

STNG opened at $79.81 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 9.23, a current ratio of 9.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $74.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.94. Scorpio Tankers has a twelve month low of $36.07 and a twelve month high of $81.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.29 and a beta of -0.32.

Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.25. Scorpio Tankers had a net margin of 36.70% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The firm had revenue of $252.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $238.93 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Scorpio Tankers will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Scorpio Tankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Scorpio Tankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Scorpio Tankers's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.46%.

About Scorpio Tankers

Scorpio Tankers Inc NYSE: STNG is an independent provider of marine transportation services, specializing in the carriage of refined petroleum products. The company’s core operations focus on moving clean petroleum cargoes—such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and naphtha—on a global scale. By catering to both spot and time charter markets, Scorpio Tankers enables energy companies, refiners and traders to manage their supply chains with flexibility and reliability.

The company’s fleet is composed of modern, eco-designed product tankers, including medium range (MR) and long range (LR) vessels.

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