Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on International Seaways (NYSE:INSW)

International Seaways Inc. (NYSE:INSW) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 68,090 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 4,284% compared to the typical volume of 1,553 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on INSW. Pareto Securities downgraded International Seaways from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of International Seaways from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of International Seaways from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of International Seaways from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $107.00 target price on shares of International Seaways in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Lois Zabrocky sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.44, for a total value of $196,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 173,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,103,457.80. This represents a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Pribor sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.68, for a total value of $81,680.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 101,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,330,053.12. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,000 shares of company stock valued at $441,240. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Seaways

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in International Seaways by 42.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,365 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 2,768 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of International Seaways by 3.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,089 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $800,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in International Seaways by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 128,428 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,264,000 after acquiring an additional 18,509 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of International Seaways in the 2nd quarter worth about $223,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of International Seaways in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,626,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.29% of the company’s stock.

International Seaways Price Performance

Shares of International Seaways stock traded up $0.80 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $104.61. 644,085 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 577,295. International Seaways has a 12 month low of $42.26 and a 12 month high of $106.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $93.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 5.76 and a current ratio of 5.94. The stock has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.69, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of -0.13.

International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The transportation company reported $5.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.55 by $0.36. International Seaways had a net margin of 61.98% and a return on equity of 31.75%. The firm had revenue of $467.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.02 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 138.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that International Seaways will post 16.09 earnings per share for the current year.

International Seaways Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a $5.05 dividend. This represents a $20.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 19.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. This is a positive change from International Seaways’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. International Seaways’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.07%.

International Seaways Company Profile

International Seaways, Inc (NYSE: INSW) is an independent tanker company that provides seaborne transportation services to oil companies, commodity traders and national oil companies. The firm’s operations focus on the carriage of crude oil and refined petroleum products, offering both time­ charter and voyage­ charter arrangements. With a modern fleet of very large crude carriers (VLCCs), Suezmax and Aframax tankers, as well as medium range (MR) and Handy product tankers, International Seaways supports global energy supply chains across major trade routes.

Founded in 1997 as Diamond S Shipping, the company completed its initial public offering in the late 1990s and rebranded to International Seaways in September 2018.