Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

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

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

Nordic American Tankers Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE NAT opened at $2.57 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.95. The company has a market cap of $535.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.84 and a beta of -0.33. Nordic American Tankers has a 12 month low of $2.39 and a 12 month high of $4.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The shipping company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $46.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.38 million. Nordic American Tankers had a return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 26.41%. Sell-side analysts predict that Nordic American Tankers will post 0.24 EPS for the current year.

Nordic American Tankers Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.36%. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.09%.

Institutional Trading of Nordic American Tankers

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NAT. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Nordic American Tankers by 135.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 58,309 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 33,507 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers during the 3rd quarter valued at $237,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 489,382 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,796,000 after acquiring an additional 7,382 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Nordic American Tankers in the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 198.9% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 207,008 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $760,000 after acquiring an additional 137,745 shares in the last quarter. 44.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.