TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

TORM plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $20.98, but opened at $21.86. TORM shares last traded at $22.11, with a volume of 630,276 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

TORM Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The company has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.23.

TORM Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.876 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.80%. TORM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.28%.

Institutional Trading of TORM

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TRMD. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in TORM by 860.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,429,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,441,000 after buying an additional 1,281,176 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of TORM during the 2nd quarter valued at $9,619,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TORM during the 3rd quarter valued at $7,359,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TORM by 38.9% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 669,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,945,000 after purchasing an additional 187,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of TORM by 65.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 384,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,140,000 after purchasing an additional 151,942 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.89% of the company’s stock.

About TORM

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.