Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Stock Price Down 8.4% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT) fell 8.4% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $5.77 and last traded at $5.7350. 3,847,144 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 13% from the average daily volume of 4,403,201 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore cut shares of Nordic American Tankers from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $4.50 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nordic American Tankers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $4.00.

Nordic American Tankers Trading Down 6.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.75. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61 and a beta of -0.57.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The shipping company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.01. Nordic American Tankers had a net margin of 24.19% and a return on equity of 9.16%. The company had revenue of $77.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.86 million. On average, research analysts predict that Nordic American Tankers Limited will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Nordic American Tankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 15.1%. This is a positive change from Nordic American Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 10th. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 325.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NAT. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,189,811 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $71,430,000 after purchasing an additional 460,555 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,260,627 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $16,518,000 after buying an additional 1,057,232 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,124,150 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $16,090,000 after buying an additional 369,462 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP increased its position in Nordic American Tankers by 110.1% in the fourth quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 3,700,409 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $12,729,000 after buying an additional 1,939,211 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Nordic American Tankers by 108.3% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,429,423 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,628,000 after buying an additional 1,263,228 shares during the period. 44.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nordic American Tankers Company Profile

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.