Morgan Stanley Downgrades Tenaris (NYSE:TS) to Underweight

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Tenaris (NYSE:TS) from an overweight rating to an underweight rating in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $40.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on Tenaris in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a neutral rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Tenaris from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th.

Tenaris Trading Down 1.9 %

TS opened at $37.38 on Thursday. Tenaris has a 12 month low of $24.69 and a 12 month high of $40.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.59. The firm has a market cap of $22.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.63, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.47.

Tenaris (NYSE:TS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.89. Tenaris had a return on equity of 24.33% and a net margin of 26.35%. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Tenaris will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

Tenaris Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This is an increase from Tenaris’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.68. Tenaris’s payout ratio is presently 12.05%.

Institutional Trading of Tenaris

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TS. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Tenaris by 101.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 877,305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,723,000 after purchasing an additional 442,016 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in shares of Tenaris during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,862,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Tenaris during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,113,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Tenaris by 59.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 525,993 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,284,000 after buying an additional 196,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Tenaris by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 142,121 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,940,000 after buying an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 10.45% of the company’s stock.

About Tenaris

Tenaris SA, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells seamless and welded steel tubular products and related services for the oil and gas industry, and other industrial applications. The company offers steel casings, tubing products, mechanical and structural pipes, line pipes, cold-drawn pipes, and premium joints and couplings; and coiled tubing products for oil and gas drilling and workovers, and subsea pipelines.