Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $5.78, but opened at $5.52. Nordic American Tankers shares last traded at $5.7150, with a volume of 2,092,210 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NAT shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nordic American Tankers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $3.50 price objective on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.25.

Nordic American Tankers Trading Down 3.7%

The firm has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.51 and a beta of -0.49. The business’s 50 day moving average is $4.32 and its 200-day moving average is $3.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The shipping company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $58.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.43 million. Nordic American Tankers had a return on equity of 2.47% and a net margin of 6.39%. As a group, analysts forecast that Nordic American Tankers Limited will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordic American Tankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This is an increase from Nordic American Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 742.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Nordic American Tankers during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. BlueStem Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nordic American Tankers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, ROI Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Nordic American Tankers during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.29% of the company’s stock.

About Nordic American Tankers

Nordic American Tankers Limited is a Bermuda-based shipping company specializing in the ownership and operation of Suezmax crude oil tankers. The company’s fleet is employed on the spot and period charter markets, transporting crude oil across major global trade routes. By focusing on commercially flexible employment strategies, Nordic American Tankers seeks to optimize vessel utilization and generate stable income for shareholders.

Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, Nordic American Tankers maintains technical and commercial management arrangements through established ship-management partners.