Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $3.00 price target on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a research note on Thursday, May 29th.

Nordic American Tankers Price Performance

Nordic American Tankers stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $2.70. The stock had a trading volume of 1,002,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,604,078. The firm has a market capitalization of $570.67 million, a P/E ratio of 12.25 and a beta of -0.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm's 50 day moving average is $2.69 and its 200 day moving average is $2.61. Nordic American Tankers has a one year low of $2.13 and a one year high of $3.91.

Nordic American Tankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.39%. This is a boost from Nordic American Tankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 12th. Nordic American Tankers's dividend payout ratio is currently 127.27%.

Institutional Trading of Nordic American Tankers

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 428,298 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,054,000 after buying an additional 78,948 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 221,939 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 18,222 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 298.7% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 68,325 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 51,187 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 61.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 4,326,919 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $10,644,000 after buying an additional 1,648,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 269.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 129,546 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 94,514 shares in the last quarter. 44.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Nordic American Tankers

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.