Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks reports.

ECO has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Okeanis Eco Tankers from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. B. Riley Financial upped their target price on shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers from $75.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.85.

Okeanis Eco Tankers Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:ECO opened at $88.09 on Monday. Okeanis Eco Tankers has a 52-week low of $27.93 and a 52-week high of $90.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.22 and a beta of -0.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $71.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 4.13 and a current ratio of 4.43.

Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $5.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.61 by $1.30. The company had revenue of $268.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.28 million. Okeanis Eco Tankers had a return on equity of 62.06% and a net margin of 56.92%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Okeanis Eco Tankers will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Okeanis Eco Tankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $5.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This is a positive change from Okeanis Eco Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.00. This represents a $21.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 23.8%. Okeanis Eco Tankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 195.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Financial Lp Qvt sold 68,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.99, for a total value of $4,104,515.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,347,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,808,809.62. This represents a 4.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Okeanis Eco Tankers

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Okeanis Eco Tankers during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,416,000. Fearnley Asset Management AS purchased a new position in Okeanis Eco Tankers in the 4th quarter worth approximately $18,696,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Okeanis Eco Tankers by 96.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 278,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,079,000 after acquiring an additional 136,782 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC lifted its position in Okeanis Eco Tankers by 71.9% in the 1st quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 177,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,976,000 after acquiring an additional 74,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Militia Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Okeanis Eco Tankers during the 1st quarter valued at $3,541,000.

Okeanis Eco Tankers Company Profile

Okeanis Eco Tankers Corp. is a maritime transportation company that owns and operates a fleet of modern, fuel-efficient crude oil tankers. The company focuses primarily on large crude carriers, including very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and Suezmax tankers, which transport crude oil between major production and refining regions around the world.

Through its vessels and associated commercial and technical management activities, Okeanis Eco Tankers provides seaborne transportation services to customers in the global energy industry.