Empowered Funds LLC Buys Shares of 257,357 International Seaways Inc. $INSW

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in International Seaways Inc. (NYSE:INSW) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 257,357 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,711,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of INSW. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in International Seaways in the second quarter valued at approximately $505,153,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of International Seaways by 1.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,024,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $220,436,000 after acquiring an additional 52,743 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of International Seaways by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,010,815 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $49,083,000 after acquiring an additional 4,250 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of International Seaways by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 638,791 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $31,013,000 after acquiring an additional 12,188 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in International Seaways by 167.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 608,265 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $44,330,000 after acquiring an additional 380,931 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Lois K. Zabrocky sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.44, for a total value of $196,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 173,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,103,457.80. This represents a 1.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Pribor sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 101,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,330,053.12. The trade was a 0.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,000 shares of company stock worth $441,240. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on INSW. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of International Seaways from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on International Seaways from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of International Seaways in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research downgraded International Seaways from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Pareto Securities lowered International Seaways from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.00.

International Seaways Price Performance

Shares of NYSE INSW opened at $98.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.32 and a beta of -0.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $90.54 and a 200-day moving average of $81.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 5.94 and a quick ratio of 5.76. International Seaways Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $42.26 and a fifty-two week high of $102.36.

International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The transportation company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.55 by $0.36. International Seaways had a return on equity of 31.75% and a net margin of 61.98%.The business had revenue of $467.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.02 earnings per share. International Seaways’s revenue was up 138.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that International Seaways Inc. will post 15.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Seaways Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $5.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $20.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 20.4%. This is an increase from International Seaways’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. International Seaways’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.07%.

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.