Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on NAT. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $4.00 price target on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Nordic American Tankers from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th.

Nordic American Tankers Trading Down 1.3 %

Nordic American Tankers stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $3.02. The stock had a trading volume of 699,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,507,174. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $630.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55 and a beta of -0.21. Nordic American Tankers has a 52-week low of $2.95 and a 52-week high of $4.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $3.50 and a 200 day moving average of $3.75.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shipping company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.03. Nordic American Tankers had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 26.35%. The firm had revenue of $66.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.34 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Nordic American Tankers will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordic American Tankers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.89%. Nordic American Tankers’s payout ratio is currently 165.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,606,339 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $46,195,000 after purchasing an additional 621,588 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 40.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,499,565 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $13,928,000 after buying an additional 1,009,096 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 19.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,682,487 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,595,000 after buying an additional 275,707 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Nordic American Tankers by 122.8% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,291,682 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,141,000 after acquiring an additional 711,973 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nordic American Tankers in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,069,000. 44.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.