Short Interest in Teekay Tankers Ltd. (NYSE:TNK) Decreases By 24.0%

Teekay Tankers Ltd. (NYSE:TNK - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 731,900 shares, a decline of 24.0% from the April 30th total of 962,700 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 509,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TNK. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Teekay Tankers in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Teekay Tankers from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.67.

Teekay Tankers Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TNK traded down $0.48 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.28. The stock had a trading volume of 582,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 400,219. Teekay Tankers has a fifty-two week low of $33.35 and a fifty-two week high of $73.04. The company has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.91 and a beta of -0.10. The business's 50-day moving average price is $41.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.75.

Teekay Tankers (NYSE:TNK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.32). Teekay Tankers had a return on equity of 20.67% and a net margin of 34.55%. The company had revenue of $115.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.23 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 37.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Teekay Tankers will post 7.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Teekay Tankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a -- dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Teekay Tankers's previous -- dividend of $0.25. This represents a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. Teekay Tankers's payout ratio is presently 10.72%.

Institutional Trading of Teekay Tankers

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TNK. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Teekay Tankers during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Teekay Tankers by 49.3% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,720 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in Teekay Tankers by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,844 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Teekay Tankers during the 4th quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Teekay Tankers during the 4th quarter worth approximately $132,000. 52.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Teekay Tankers Company Profile

Teekay Tankers Ltd. provides crude oil and other marine transportation services to oil industries in Bermuda and internationally. The company offers voyage and time charter services; offshore ship-to-ship transfer services of commodities primarily crude oil and refined oil products; and tanker commercial and technical management services.