Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) Short Interest Up 49.7% in July

Key Points

• Torm’s short interest surged 49.7% to 981,779 shares as of July 31, representing 1.0% of shares outstanding and 2.3 days to cover.
• CEO Jacob Balslev Meldgaard sold 170,133 shares worth approximately $5.5 million, reducing his direct holdings by 32.81%; insiders collectively own 0.37% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $37.00 average price target, while TRMD recently traded at $30.23.

Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 981,779 shares, a growth of 49.7% from the July 15th total of 655,620 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 421,472 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Torm

In other news, CEO Jacob Balslev Meldgaard sold 170,133 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.30, for a total value of $5,495,295.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 348,411 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,253,675.30. This represents a 32.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Torm

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Torm during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Torm in the first quarter worth $67,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC acquired a new stake in shares of Torm in the second quarter worth $46,000. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Torm during the third quarter valued at $120,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Torm during the fourth quarter valued at $121,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.89% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRMD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of Torm in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Torm from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 9th. Pareto Securities downgraded Torm from a "hold" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Torm in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.00.

Torm Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of TRMD traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.23. The stock had a trading volume of 65,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 771,604. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.84. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Torm has a fifty-two week low of $19.30 and a fifty-two week high of $35.33.

About Torm

Torm A/S NASDAQ: TRMD is an international shipping company specializing in the transportation of refined petroleum products. The firm owns and operates a modern fleet of product tankers, including both Handysize and MR vessels, which are designed to carry a broad range of clean petroleum cargoes such as gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. Torm's core business revolves around voyage and time-charter contracts with major oil companies, trading houses and other energy sector clients around the world.

The company's fleet is deployed on global trade routes, with particular focus on major refining and consumption regions in Europe, North America and Asia.

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