Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $73.59 and last traded at $72.9750, with a volume of 406964 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $71.80.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Scorpio Tankers from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Scorpio Tankers from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Scorpio Tankers from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.67.

Scorpio Tankers Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 9.33 and a quick ratio of 9.23. The firm has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89 and a beta of -0.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.63.

Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The shipping company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.25. Scorpio Tankers had a net margin of 36.70% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The business had revenue of $252.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Scorpio Tankers Inc. will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scorpio Tankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Scorpio Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Scorpio Tankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scorpio Tankers

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,005,276 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $152,757,000 after purchasing an additional 60,401 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,913,729 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $107,265,000 after acquiring an additional 135,123 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Scorpio Tankers by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,249,834 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $70,053,000 after purchasing an additional 83,294 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,223,015 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $62,166,000 after acquiring an additional 137,000 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 136.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 853,712 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $43,394,000 after purchasing an additional 492,584 shares in the last quarter. 54.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Scorpio Tankers

Scorpio Tankers Inc (NYSE: STNG) is an independent provider of marine transportation services, specializing in the carriage of refined petroleum products. The company’s core operations focus on moving clean petroleum cargoes—such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and naphtha—on a global scale. By catering to both spot and time charter markets, Scorpio Tankers enables energy companies, refiners and traders to manage their supply chains with flexibility and reliability.

The company’s fleet is composed of modern, eco-designed product tankers, including medium range (MR) and long range (LR) vessels.