Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) Trading Up 7.3% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) were up 7.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $28.06 and last traded at $28.1790. 202,769 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 846,494 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.25.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TRMD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Torm from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. Evercore set a $35.00 target price on Torm in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Pareto Securities cut Torm from a “hold” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Torm in a research report on Friday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.00.

Torm Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.00. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 8.15 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.15). Torm had a net margin of 24.45% and a return on equity of 15.81%. The company had revenue of $402.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.43 million.

Torm Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 28th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. Torm’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Torm news, CEO Jacob Balslev Meldgaard sold 170,133 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.30, for a total transaction of $5,495,295.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 348,411 shares in the company, valued at $11,253,675.30. This trade represents a 32.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Torm

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TRMD. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in Torm by 275.8% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 91,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,785,000 after acquiring an additional 66,992 shares during the last quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Torm by 109.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 40,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $825,000 after acquiring an additional 20,914 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Torm in the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,830,000. Folketrygdfondet boosted its stake in shares of Torm by 174.0% in the 4th quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 238,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,673,000 after purchasing an additional 151,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fearnley Asset Management AS purchased a new stake in shares of Torm in the 4th quarter valued at $4,048,000. 73.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.