Scorpio Tankers Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:STNG)

Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 2,844 call options on the company. This is an increase of 71% compared to the average volume of 1,667 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on STNG. Bank of America lowered Scorpio Tankers from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a report on Monday, December 29th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Scorpio Tankers from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Scorpio Tankers from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.67.

Institutional Trading of Scorpio Tankers

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 110.3% during the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 469 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 67.9% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 507 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Scorpio Tankers by 1,645.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 541 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of Scorpio Tankers during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Scorpio Tankers in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 54.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scorpio Tankers Price Performance

NYSE STNG traded down $1.16 during trading on Monday, reaching $77.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,021,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,091,221. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.00 and a beta of -0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 9.33 and a quick ratio of 9.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $61.37 and a 200 day moving average of $58.06. Scorpio Tankers has a one year low of $30.63 and a one year high of $81.85.

Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The shipping company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $252.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.93 million. Scorpio Tankers had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 36.70%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Analysts expect that Scorpio Tankers will post 5.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scorpio Tankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Scorpio Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Scorpio Tankers’s dividend payout ratio is 25.46%.

Scorpio Tankers Company Profile

Scorpio Tankers Inc (NYSE: STNG) is an independent provider of marine transportation services, specializing in the carriage of refined petroleum products. The company’s core operations focus on moving clean petroleum cargoes—such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and naphtha—on a global scale. By catering to both spot and time charter markets, Scorpio Tankers enables energy companies, refiners and traders to manage their supply chains with flexibility and reliability.

The company’s fleet is composed of modern, eco-designed product tankers, including medium range (MR) and long range (LR) vessels.