Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers Corp. (NYSE:ECO) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $48.50, but opened at $50.95. Okeanis Eco Tankers shares last traded at $51.1860, with a volume of 40,002 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on ECO shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Clarkson Capital upgraded shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $46.05 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 29th. B. Riley Financial raised their target price on shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Okeanis Eco Tankers currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.35.

Okeanis Eco Tankers Stock Up 5.4%

The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.67 and a beta of -0.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $47.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $91.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.45 million. Okeanis Eco Tankers had a net margin of 31.40% and a return on equity of 26.63%. Equities research analysts forecast that Okeanis Eco Tankers Corp. will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

Okeanis Eco Tankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 3rd were paid a $1.55 dividend. This is a boost from Okeanis Eco Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 3rd. Okeanis Eco Tankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 165.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Okeanis Eco Tankers

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers in the fourth quarter valued at $27,416,000. FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 574,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,339,000 after buying an additional 84,130 shares in the last quarter. Fearnley Asset Management AS bought a new position in shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers in the fourth quarter valued at $18,696,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers by 5.4% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 443,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,987,000 after buying an additional 22,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers in the fourth quarter valued at $10,911,000.

About Okeanis Eco Tankers

Okeanis Eco Tankers Corp. is a Marshall Islands–incorporated, publicly traded shipping company specializing in the ownership and operation of eco-design product tankers. The company made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “ECO” in May 2019 following an initial public offering. It focuses on the acquisition of newbuilding medium-range (MR) and long-range (LR) product tankers designed to deliver enhanced fuel efficiency and reduced emissions.

As of its public listing, Okeanis Eco Tankers’ fleet comprises twelve eco-efficient vessels built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries in South Korea.