Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 51,140 Shares of DHT Holdings, Inc. $DHT

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of DHT Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DHT) by 26.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 244,432 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,140 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.15% of DHT worth $4,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in DHT by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,008,679 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $36,736,000 after acquiring an additional 44,986 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in DHT by 11.9% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,329,182 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $27,834,000 after purchasing an additional 248,620 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of DHT by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,269,460 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $27,710,000 after purchasing an additional 17,221 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of DHT by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,857,049 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $22,192,000 after purchasing an additional 293,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of DHT by 60.7% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,732,003 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $20,697,000 after purchasing an additional 654,299 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded DHT from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore cut shares of DHT from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of DHT from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of DHT from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.33.

DHT Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE DHT opened at $18.60 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $17.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03 and a beta of -0.11. DHT Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.69 and a 12 month high of $20.55.

DHT (NYSE:DHT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $157.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.15 million. DHT had a net margin of 58.54% and a return on equity of 27.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 134.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share.

DHT Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.8%. This is a boost from DHT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. DHT’s payout ratio is currently 124.27%.

DHT Profile

DHT Holdings, Inc (NYSE: DHT) is a Bermuda-based independent crude oil tanker company that provides seaborne transportation of crude oil on a worldwide basis. The company’s core business involves the ownership and operation of a modern fleet of Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) and Suezmax tankers, which are chartered to oil producers, trading houses and national oil companies. Through spot charters, time-charters and tanker pooling arrangements, DHT connects crude oil exporters with refining hubs in Asia, Europe, North America and other global markets.

Founded in 2005 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange later that year, DHT has grown its presence in the maritime sector by focusing on operational efficiency and disciplined capital management.