Nordic American Tankers’ (NAT) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group restated their hold rating on shares of Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $3.50 price objective on the shipping company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on NAT. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Nordic American Tankers from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nordic American Tankers from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Nordic American Tankers currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $3.25.

Nordic American Tankers Stock Performance

NAT opened at $3.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $3.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $768.66 million, a P/E ratio of 51.86 and a beta of -0.36. Nordic American Tankers has a 12-month low of $2.13 and a 12-month high of $3.93.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, December 5th. The shipping company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.01 by ($0.02). Nordic American Tankers had a net margin of 7.58% and a return on equity of 2.67%. The business had revenue of $40.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.89 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Nordic American Tankers will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordic American Tankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is an increase from Nordic American Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.3%. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio is 2,600.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 61.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 4,326,919 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,644,000 after buying an additional 1,648,496 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nordic American Tankers in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,150,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Nordic American Tankers by 108.3% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,429,423 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,628,000 after acquiring an additional 1,263,228 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP increased its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 168.4% during the 3rd quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 1,761,198 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,260,627 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $16,518,000 after purchasing an additional 1,057,232 shares in the last quarter. 44.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.