TORM plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) Short Interest Up 59.0% in August

TORM plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,830,000 shares, a growth of 59.0% from the August 15th total of 1,780,000 shares. Approximately 5.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 638,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in TORM in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in TORM by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 11,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in TORM in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in TORM by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 1,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new position in TORM in the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. 73.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TORM Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ TRMD traded up $0.81 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $34.50. 283,439 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 685,189. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a current ratio of 3.18. TORM has a 12 month low of $25.05 and a 12 month high of $40.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $36.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.98.

TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $437.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $325.38 million. TORM had a return on equity of 36.06% and a net margin of 43.81%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.14 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that TORM will post 7.1 earnings per share for the current year.

TORM Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 20.87%. This is a positive change from TORM’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. TORM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on TORM from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd.

TORM Company Profile

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.