Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 10,171 Shares of Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT) by 8.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,756 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,171 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.06% of Nordic American Tankers worth $512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Nordic American Tankers by 8.5% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 36,894 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 2,904 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 16,057 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 2,990 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 6.9% during the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 46,596 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $185,000 after purchasing an additional 3,003 shares during the last quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 38.3% during the first quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,900 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 18.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 58,791 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 44.29% of the company’s stock.

Nordic American Tankers Price Performance

Nordic American Tankers stock opened at $3.64 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $3.65 and its 200 day moving average is $3.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $758.99 million, a P/E ratio of 11.36 and a beta of -0.19. Nordic American Tankers Limited has a one year low of $3.31 and a one year high of $4.83.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shipping company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $66.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.34 million. Nordic American Tankers had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 26.35%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Nordic American Tankers Limited will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

Nordic American Tankers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.20%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 150.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on NAT shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Nordic American Tankers from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 price target on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Nordic American Tankers from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th.

Nordic American Tankers 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.