Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) Short Interest Down 35.5% in January

Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 663,615 shares, a decline of 35.5% from the December 31st total of 1,028,304 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 638,036 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days. Based on an average daily volume of 638,036 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRMD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Fearnley Fonds raised Torm from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Torm in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Torm presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Torm Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ TRMD opened at $24.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 0.04. Torm has a 52-week low of $13.60 and a 52-week high of $24.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $21.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $342.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.49 million. Torm had a return on equity of 13.03% and a net margin of 21.37%. Equities research analysts expect that Torm will post 6.27 EPS for the current year.

Torm Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th were given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Torm’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.2%. Torm’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Torm

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Torm by 1,346.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 87,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,438,000 after purchasing an additional 81,251 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Torm by 39.9% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 16,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 4,776 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Torm by 66.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 26,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 10,522 shares during the period. Commons Capital LLC purchased a new position in Torm in the second quarter valued at about $450,000. Finally, Tweedy Browne Co LLC purchased a new position in Torm in the second quarter valued at about $318,000. 73.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Torm Company Profile

Torm A/S (NASDAQ: TRMD) is an international shipping company specializing in the transportation of refined petroleum products. The firm owns and operates a modern fleet of product tankers, including both Handysize and MR vessels, which are designed to carry a broad range of clean petroleum cargoes such as gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. Torm’s core business revolves around voyage and time-charter contracts with major oil companies, trading houses and other energy sector clients around the world.

The company’s fleet is deployed on global trade routes, with particular focus on major refining and consumption regions in Europe, North America and Asia.