Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $8.79 and last traded at $8.7750, with a volume of 592,012 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on NAT. Wall Street Zen downgraded Nordic American Tankers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. B. Riley Financial raised their price target on Nordic American Tankers from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Nordic American Tankers from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nordic American Tankers presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.00.

Nordic American Tankers Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 3.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 14.91 and a beta of -0.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.37.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The shipping company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $79.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.18 million. Nordic American Tankers had a net margin of 47.04% and a return on equity of 20.58%. On average, research analysts forecast that Nordic American Tankers Limited will post 0.60 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordic American Tankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 10th. This is an increase from Nordic American Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.05%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 184.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,306 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 3,438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nordic American Tankers during the first quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 44.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nordic American Tankers Company Profile

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE: NAT) is a Bermuda-based international shipping company that owns and operates crude oil tankers. The company’s fleet is focused primarily on Suezmax vessels, which are designed to transport large quantities of crude oil and are sized to transit the Suez Canal.

Nordic American Tankers employs a combination of voyage charters, time charters and other commercial arrangements to provide crude oil transportation services to customers in the global energy industry.