Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Upgraded by StockNews.com to "Hold" Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $3.00 price objective on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a report on Friday, February 28th.

Nordic American Tankers Stock Down 6.0 %

Shares of NYSE NAT traded down $0.14 on Tuesday, hitting $2.21. The company had a trading volume of 4,203,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,526,978. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Nordic American Tankers has a 12-month low of $2.15 and a 12-month high of $4.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $461.44 million, a P/E ratio of 7.62 and a beta of -0.33. The business has a 50 day moving average of $2.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.89.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The shipping company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $46.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $51.38 million. Nordic American Tankers had a return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 26.41%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Nordic American Tankers will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordic American Tankers Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Nordic American Tankers's payout ratio is 109.09%.

Institutional Trading of Nordic American Tankers

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NAT. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Nordic American Tankers during the 3rd quarter valued at $237,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 489,382 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 7,382 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 198.9% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 207,008 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 137,745 shares during the last quarter. Penn Mutual Asset Management grew its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 25.2% in the third quarter. Penn Mutual Asset Management now owns 134,000 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 27,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 67.6% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,774,100 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $13,851,000 after buying an additional 1,521,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.29% of the company's stock.

Nordic American Tankers Company Profile

Nordic American Tankers Limited, a tanker company, acquires and charters double-hull tankers in Bermuda and internationally. It operates a fleet of 20 Suezmax crude oil tankers. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.