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

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

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

Nordic American Tankers Stock Performance

NAT opened at $2.58 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $537.65 million, a PE ratio of 8.88 and a beta of -0.33. Nordic American Tankers has a 1 year low of $2.39 and a 1 year high of $4.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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

Nordic American Tankers Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.32%. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. WealthTrust Axiom LLC grew its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 652,683 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,632,000 after buying an additional 4,665 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 483,457 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,209,000 after acquiring an additional 5,439 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its position in Nordic American Tankers by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 18,586 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 5,439 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 75,107 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 5,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 40,074 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 6,712 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.29% of the company’s stock.

About Nordic American Tankers

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.