TORM plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

TORM plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,480,000 shares, an increase of 27.5% from the October 31st total of 2,730,000 shares. Currently, 6.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TRMD. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of TORM from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of TORM to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th.

TORM Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TRMD opened at $20.94 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.27. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $27.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.66. TORM has a fifty-two week low of $20.69 and a fifty-two week high of $40.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.24.

TORM Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.876 per share. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 16.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. TORM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TORM

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRMD. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of TORM by 7.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,179,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,221,000 after acquiring an additional 85,937 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of TORM during the first quarter worth $598,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of TORM by 11.4% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 58,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,971,000 after buying an additional 5,933 shares in the last quarter. Syquant Capital Sas bought a new position in shares of TORM in the second quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC acquired a new position in TORM during the 2nd quarter worth about $216,000. 73.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TORM Company Profile

TORM plc, a shipping company, owns and operates a fleet of product tankers in the United Kingdom. It operates in two operating segments, Tanker and Marine Exhaust. The Tanker segment transports refined oil products, such as gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, naphtha, and gas oil, as well as dirty petroleum products, including fuel oil.