Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on International Seaways (NYSE:INSW)

International Seaways Inc. (NYSE:INSW) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 4,772 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 199% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,595 call options.

Insider Activity

In other International Seaways news, CFO Jeffrey Pribor sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.68, for a total value of $81,680.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 101,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,330,053.12. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Derek G. Solon sold 4,700 shares of International Seaways stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.22, for a total transaction of $419,334.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 49,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,435,929.18. This represents a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 42,530 shares of company stock worth $3,699,995 over the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of International Seaways

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of International Seaways by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 638,791 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,013,000 after purchasing an additional 12,188 shares during the last quarter. Resolute Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of International Seaways during the 4th quarter worth about $1,273,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Seaways by 123.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,276 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,664,000 after buying an additional 18,935 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Seaways by 252.7% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 64,528 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,133,000 after buying an additional 46,234 shares during the period. Finally, TrueMark Investments LLC acquired a new position in International Seaways in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,404,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.29% of the company’s stock.

International Seaways Trading Up 2.2%

INSW opened at $88.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.02 and a beta of -0.12. The company has a current ratio of 7.34, a quick ratio of 7.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. International Seaways has a 12 month low of $37.93 and a 12 month high of $92.66. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.25.

International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The transportation company reported $3.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $1.03. The firm had revenue of $325.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $279.34 million. International Seaways had a return on equity of 21.04% and a net margin of 55.39%.The company’s revenue was up 77.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that International Seaways will post 14.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Seaways Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. International Seaways’s payout ratio is 4.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

INSW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BTIG Research raised their price objective on International Seaways from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings raised International Seaways from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Pareto Securities downgraded International Seaways from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of International Seaways in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded International Seaways from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Seaways currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

International Seaways Company Profile

International Seaways, Inc (NYSE: INSW) is an independent tanker company that provides seaborne transportation services to oil companies, commodity traders and national oil companies. The firm’s operations focus on the carriage of crude oil and refined petroleum products, offering both time­ charter and voyage­ charter arrangements. With a modern fleet of very large crude carriers (VLCCs), Suezmax and Aframax tankers, as well as medium range (MR) and Handy product tankers, International Seaways supports global energy supply chains across major trade routes.

Founded in 1997 as Diamond S Shipping, the company completed its initial public offering in the late 1990s and rebranded to International Seaways in September 2018.