Empowered Funds LLC Invests $19.71 Million in International Seaways Inc. $INSW

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in International Seaways Inc. (NYSE:INSW) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 257,357 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,711,000. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.52% of International Seaways at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in International Seaways during the second quarter worth $28,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of International Seaways during the 2nd quarter worth about $48,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in International Seaways during the 2nd quarter valued at about $66,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in International Seaways in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of International Seaways during the second quarter worth approximately $86,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

INSW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of International Seaways in a report on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of International Seaways from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of International Seaways from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of International Seaways from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Pareto Securities lowered shares of International Seaways from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Lois K. Zabrocky sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.44, for a total value of $196,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 173,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,103,457.80. This represents a 1.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Pribor sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.68, for a total transaction of $81,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 101,984 shares in the company, valued at $8,330,053.12. This represents a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 5,000 shares of company stock valued at $441,240 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

International Seaways Price Performance

Shares of INSW stock opened at $98.92 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $90.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 5.76 and a current ratio of 5.94. International Seaways Inc. has a 52-week low of $42.26 and a 52-week high of $102.36. The stock has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of 6.32 and a beta of -0.13.

International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The transportation company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.55 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $467.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.38 million. International Seaways had a return on equity of 31.75% and a net margin of 61.98%.The firm’s revenue was up 138.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.02 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that International Seaways Inc. will post 15.89 EPS for the current year.

International Seaways Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $5.05 per share. This represents a $20.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 20.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. This is an increase from International Seaways’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. International Seaways’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.07%.

About International Seaways

International Seaways, Inc (NYSE: INSW) is an independent tanker company that provides seaborne transportation services to oil companies, commodity traders and national oil companies. The firm’s operations focus on the carriage of crude oil and refined petroleum products, offering both time­ charter and voyage­ charter arrangements. With a modern fleet of very large crude carriers (VLCCs), Suezmax and Aframax tankers, as well as medium range (MR) and Handy product tankers, International Seaways supports global energy supply chains across major trade routes.

Founded in 1997 as Diamond S Shipping, the company completed its initial public offering in the late 1990s and rebranded to International Seaways in September 2018.