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

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

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Nordic American Tankers from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $4.00 price objective on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a research note on Thursday, September 12th.

Nordic American Tankers Stock Down 2.6 %

NAT stock opened at $2.98 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $622.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.28 and a beta of -0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average is $3.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.74. Nordic American Tankers has a fifty-two week low of $2.95 and a fifty-two week high of $4.64.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shipping company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.03. Nordic American Tankers had a net margin of 26.35% and a return on equity of 11.60%. The company had revenue of $66.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.34 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Nordic American Tankers will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordic American Tankers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 16.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 165.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NAT. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 8.5% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 36,894 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 2,904 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 6.9% in the 2nd 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 period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 50.1% during the 2nd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 16,024 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 5,347 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 26.4% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,213 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 6,940 shares during the last quarter. 44.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.