Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $3.00 price objective on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

Nordic American Tankers Price Performance

NAT opened at $2.36 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.91. The company has a market capitalization of $491.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.12 and a beta of -0.33. Nordic American Tankers has a 12-month low of $2.35 and a 12-month high of $4.40.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The shipping company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.02). Nordic American Tankers had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 11.95%. The business had revenue of $46.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.38 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Nordic American Tankers will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordic American Tankers Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.19%. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Nordic American Tankers by 274.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 268,115 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $984,000 after acquiring an additional 196,571 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 438,641 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 109,093 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 834.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 545,019 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 486,710 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers in the 4th quarter worth $509,000. Finally, Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC grew its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 1,206,410 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,016,000 after buying an additional 97,819 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.29% of the company’s stock.

Nordic American Tankers Company Profile

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.