Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Shares Climb 4% – Here’s What Happened

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT) shares were up 4% on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $8.55 and last traded at $8.5370. Approximately 408,835 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 4,250,135 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Nordic American Tankers from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on Nordic American Tankers from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Nordic American Tankers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.00.

Nordic American Tankers Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.35 and a beta of -0.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 3.27 and a quick ratio of 3.05.

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

Nordic American Tankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. This is an increase from Nordic American Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.8%. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio is 183.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC lifted its position in Nordic American Tankers by 18.0% during the first quarter. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC now owns 13,666 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 2,087 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 184.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,306 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 3,438 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Nordic American Tankers during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 31.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 22,746 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $180,000 after acquiring an additional 5,485 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nordic American Tankers during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. 44.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.