Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Sunday.

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

Nordic American Tankers Trading Up 3.0 %

NYSE:NAT opened at $2.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $529.30 million, a PE ratio of 8.74 and a beta of -0.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $2.66 and its 200 day moving average is $3.00. Nordic American Tankers has a 12 month low of $2.39 and a 12 month high of $4.40.

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

Nordic American Tankers Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.47%. Nordic American Tankers’s payout ratio is 109.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NAT. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,787,400 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $9,468,000 after purchasing an additional 13,300 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,678,423 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $6,696,000 after purchasing an additional 246,365 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,493,016 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $6,233,000 after purchasing an additional 22,615 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,376,932 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,442,000 after purchasing an additional 44,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC grew its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 1,206,410 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,016,000 after purchasing an additional 97,819 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 44.29% of the company’s stock.

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.