Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $2.40 and last traded at $2.42, with a volume of 348165 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $2.46.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NAT shares. StockNews.com downgraded Nordic American Tankers from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $3.00 price objective on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a report on Friday, February 28th.

Nordic American Tankers Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $504.24 million, a P/E ratio of 8.33 and a beta of -0.33. The company’s fifty day moving average is $2.66 and its 200 day moving average is $3.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The shipping company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $46.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.38 million. Nordic American Tankers had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 11.95%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Nordic American Tankers Limited will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordic American Tankers Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.94%. Nordic American Tankers’s payout ratio is 109.09%.

Institutional Trading of Nordic American Tankers

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 274.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 268,115 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $984,000 after buying an additional 196,571 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nordic American Tankers in the fourth quarter valued at about $509,000. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC raised its stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 1,206,410 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,016,000 after acquiring an additional 97,819 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 483,457 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after acquiring an additional 5,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 46.0% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 86,357 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 27,210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 44.29% of the company’s stock.

About Nordic American Tankers

Nordic American Tankers Limited, a tanker company, acquires and charters double-hull tankers in Bermuda and internationally. It operates a fleet of 20 Suezmax crude oil tankers. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.