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

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

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

Nordic American Tankers Price Performance

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

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

Nordic American Tankers Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.47%. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NAT. Sigma Planning Corp purchased a new stake in Nordic American Tankers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $108,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 268.1% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 122,991 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 89,577 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 135.1% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 58,309 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 33,507 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Nordic American Tankers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $237,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 489,382 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,796,000 after buying an additional 7,382 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.