Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG) Short Interest Down 15.9% in December

Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,230,000 shares, a decline of 15.9% from the December 15th total of 3,840,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 950,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 6.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on STNG. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Scorpio Tankers from $84.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Scorpio Tankers from $73.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Scorpio Tankers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Scorpio Tankers to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Scorpio Tankers from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scorpio Tankers has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.40.

Scorpio Tankers Stock Performance

NYSE:STNG traded down $1.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $52.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,243,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 876,410. Scorpio Tankers has a fifty-two week low of $45.94 and a fifty-two week high of $84.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 2.18. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $51.16 and its 200-day moving average is $63.67.

Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The shipping company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $267.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $267.91 million. Scorpio Tankers had a net margin of 52.40% and a return on equity of 22.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Scorpio Tankers will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scorpio Tankers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Scorpio Tankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.47%.

Institutional Trading of Scorpio Tankers

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC lifted its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 6,926.8% in the third quarter. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC now owns 8,371,832 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $596,912,000 after acquiring an additional 8,252,691 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 8,249.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,880,188 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $134,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857,668 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 882.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 201,653 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,020,000 after buying an additional 181,135 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Scorpio Tankers by 873.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 188,195 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $13,418,000 after buying an additional 168,866 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Scorpio Tankers in the third quarter valued at $8,459,000. 54.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Scorpio Tankers Company Profile

Scorpio Tankers Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the seaborne transportation of crude oi and refined petroleum products in the shipping markets worldwide. As of March 21, 2024, its fleet consisted of 110 owned and leases financed tanker, including 39 LR2, 57 MR, and 14 Handymax with a weighted average age of approximately 8.1 years.