Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) Lowered to Underperform Rating by Bank of America

Bank of America lowered shares of Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) from a buy rating to an underperform rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered Scorpio Tankers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Evercore ISI set a $80.00 target price on Scorpio Tankers and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.20.

Scorpio Tankers Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of Scorpio Tankers stock opened at $54.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.75, a current ratio of 4.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Scorpio Tankers has a 12-month low of $30.63 and a 12-month high of $65.52. The company has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.28 and a beta of -0.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $56.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.63.

Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $232.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $228.09 million. Scorpio Tankers had a net margin of 32.01% and a return on equity of 7.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Scorpio Tankers will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scorpio Tankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This is a positive change from Scorpio Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Scorpio Tankers’s payout ratio is currently 28.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scorpio Tankers

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Scorpio Tankers by 110.3% in 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 raised its position in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 67.9% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 507 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Scorpio Tankers during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Scorpio Tankers in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 77.1% in the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 758 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.64% of the company’s stock.

About Scorpio Tankers

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.