Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) Sees Large Volume Increase – What’s Next?

Shares of Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 1,690,039 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 109% from the previous session’s volume of 808,414 shares.The stock last traded at $28.5130 and had previously closed at $30.27.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRMD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Torm from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Torm in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Pareto Securities lowered shares of Torm from a “hold” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Evercore set a $35.00 price objective on Torm in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

Torm Trading Down 1.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $30.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.44 and a beta of 0.08.

Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.15). Torm had a net margin of 24.45% and a return on equity of 15.81%. The business had revenue of $402.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $297.43 million.

Torm Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. Torm’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jacob Balslev Meldgaard sold 170,133 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.30, for a total value of $5,495,295.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 348,411 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,253,675.30. This trade represents a 32.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Torm by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,064,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,032,000 after purchasing an additional 21,280 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Torm by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,341,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,629,000 after buying an additional 11,457 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Torm in the fourth quarter worth about $24,830,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Torm by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 536,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,503,000 after buying an additional 110,000 shares during the period. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Torm during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,523,000. 73.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Torm

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.