International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of International Seaways from $63.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of International Seaways in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of International Seaways from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of International Seaways in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Pareto Securities downgraded shares of International Seaways from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $83.50.

International Seaways Stock Down 4.5%

Shares of NYSE:INSW opened at $76.81 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.99 and a beta of -0.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $78.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 7.34 and a quick ratio of 7.28. International Seaways has a 1-year low of $35.60 and a 1-year high of $92.66.

International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The transportation company reported $3.90 earnings per share 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 net margin of 55.39% and a return on equity of 21.04%. International Seaways’s quarterly revenue was up 77.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that International Seaways will post 14.99 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO James D. Small III sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $1,507,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 36,376 shares in the company, valued at $2,741,659.12. This trade represents a 35.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP William F. Nugent sold 9,583 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $728,308.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 52,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,995,472. This represents a 15.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 97,227 shares of company stock worth $7,781,495. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Seaways

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of International Seaways by 1.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of International Seaways in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,404,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in International Seaways during the 4th quarter valued at about $910,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in International Seaways by 123.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,276 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,664,000 after acquiring an additional 18,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new position in International Seaways during the 4th quarter valued at about $709,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.29% of the company’s stock.

About International Seaways

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.