Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Shares Down 5.4% – What’s Next?

Shares of Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT) were down 5.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $5.85 and last traded at $5.7350. 169,338 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 96% from the average session volume of 4,368,729 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore lowered shares of Nordic American Tankers from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $4.50 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nordic American Tankers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $4.00.

Nordic American Tankers Trading Up 4.5%

The company has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83 and a beta of -0.57. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $5.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The shipping company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $77.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.86 million. Nordic American Tankers had a return on equity of 9.16% and a net margin of 24.19%. On average, analysts expect that Nordic American Tankers Limited will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordic American Tankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from Nordic American Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.3%. Nordic American Tankers’s payout ratio is currently 325.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC lifted its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 18.0% in the first quarter. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC now owns 13,666 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 2,087 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Nordic American Tankers by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 37,492 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 54,470 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 2,449 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 35,883 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in Nordic American Tankers by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 44,606 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 3,433 shares in the last quarter. 44.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nordic American Tankers Company Profile

Nordic American Tankers Limited is a Bermuda-based shipping company specializing in the ownership and operation of Suezmax crude oil tankers. The company’s fleet is employed on the spot and period charter markets, transporting crude oil across major global trade routes. By focusing on commercially flexible employment strategies, Nordic American Tankers seeks to optimize vessel utilization and generate stable income for shareholders.

Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, Nordic American Tankers maintains technical and commercial management arrangements through established ship-management partners.