Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

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

Nordic American Tankers Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE NAT opened at $2.59 on Friday. Nordic American Tankers has a 52-week low of $2.39 and a 52-week high of $4.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $539.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.91 and a beta of -0.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $2.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last issued its 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 return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm had revenue of $46.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.38 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Nordic American Tankers will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordic American Tankers Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.28%. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Nordic American Tankers by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 53,105 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 8,411 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 2,001.0% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 413,568 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after buying an additional 393,884 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,787,400 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $9,468,000 after buying an additional 13,300 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 57,408 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 18,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 673,097 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,683,000 after buying an additional 60,391 shares during the last quarter. 44.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.