Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Shares Gap Up on Strong Earnings

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT – Get Rating) shares gapped up before the market opened on Monday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $3.70, but opened at $3.93. Nordic American Tankers shares last traded at $3.97, with a volume of 1,575,650 shares traded.

The shipping company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.02. Nordic American Tankers had a return on equity of 17.23% and a net margin of 37.03%. The firm had revenue of $87.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.14) earnings per share.

Nordic American Tankers Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 142.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Nordic American Tankers from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 27th. TheStreet raised Nordic American Tankers from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Monday. B. Riley upped their price objective on Nordic American Tankers from $5.00 to $5.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Nordic American Tankers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nordic American Tankers currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 112.4% in the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 28,350 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 15,000 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 3.2% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,455,675 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $13,684,000 after purchasing an additional 107,690 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 5.1% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,946,088 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,707,000 after purchasing an additional 93,938 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 27.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 57,698 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 12,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 157.8% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,284,445 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,086,000 after purchasing an additional 786,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.41% of the company’s stock.

Nordic American Tankers Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.52. The company has a market cap of $799.70 million, a PE ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

About Nordic American Tankers

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Nordic American Tankers Ltd. operates as an international tanker company. It owns and operates Suezmax crude oil tankers. The company was founded by Herbjorn Hansson on June 12, 1995 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.