Teekay Tankers Ltd. (NYSE:TNK) Stock Short Interest Jumps 51.9%

Teekay Tankers Ltd. (NYSE:TNK) saw a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,163,260 shares, a growth of 51.9% from the August 31st total of 765,596 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 568,865 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TNK has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research cut Teekay Tankers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Teekay Tankers from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Teekay Tankers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Teekay Tankers in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.00.

Teekay Tankers Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of Teekay Tankers stock opened at $100.57 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.05. Teekay Tankers has a 12 month low of $47.18 and a 12 month high of $103.16. The company has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of 5.87 and a beta of -0.09.

Teekay Tankers (NYSE:TNK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The shipping company reported $5.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.61 by ($0.05). Teekay Tankers had a net margin of 51.35% and a return on equity of 22.11%. The firm had revenue of $258.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $299.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. Teekay Tankers’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Teekay Tankers will post 15.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Teekay Tankers Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Teekay Tankers’s payout ratio is currently 5.89%.

Insider Activity at Teekay Tankers

In related news, Director Rohit (Rk2) Kapoor sold 6,375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.28, for a total transaction of $569,160.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $189,809.28. This trade represents a 74.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Schellenberg sold 7,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $734,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $734,400. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,561 shares of company stock worth $1,380,350. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Teekay Tankers

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of TNK. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its position in shares of Teekay Tankers by 1.4% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 55,028 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,570,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Teekay Tankers during the second quarter worth $28,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Teekay Tankers by 672.0% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,212 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in Teekay Tankers in the 2nd quarter valued at about $356,000. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Teekay Tankers by 41.4% in the 2nd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 255,652 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $16,584,000 after buying an additional 74,894 shares during the period. 52.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Teekay Tankers

Teekay Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: TNK) is a marine transportation company focused on the international shipment of crude oil and refined petroleum products. The company owns and operates a fleet of conventional and specialized tankers that transport energy commodities for oil companies, refiners, commodity traders and other customers.

Its fleet has included crude oil tankers in segments such as Aframax and Suezmax, as well as product tankers used to carry refined fuels. Teekay Tankers generates revenue through vessel chartering arrangements and commercial pool and voyage activities, serving routes across major global oil-trading regions.

Teekay Tankers was established in 2007 as part of the Teekay group and is affiliated with Teekay Corporation, a marine energy transportation company.