Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Cut 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 report report published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on NAT. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Nordic American Tankers from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 price target on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a report on Thursday, September 12th.

Nordic American Tankers Stock Performance

NYSE:NAT opened at $3.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $3.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.79. The company has a market cap of $681.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26 and a beta of -0.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.79. Nordic American Tankers has a fifty-two week low of $3.25 and a fifty-two week high of $4.78.

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

Nordic American Tankers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.70%. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 165.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 67.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 83,638 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 33,810 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,213 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 6,940 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 59.9% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 69,296 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 25,953 shares in the last quarter. Bluefin Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Nordic American Tankers in the 2nd quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 48.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 272,596 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 89,450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.29% of the company’s stock.

Nordic American Tankers Company Profile

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.