Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) Stock Short Interest Falls 56.1%

Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 657,093 shares, a drop of 56.1% from the September 30th total of 1,497,540 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,421,529 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.3 days. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRMD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Torm in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Torm from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Torm from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kim Balle sold 7,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.35, for a total value of $273,824.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,538.50. This represents a 93.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 42,533 shares of company stock worth $1,643,225 in the last 90 days. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Torm

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Torm by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,064,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,032,000 after purchasing an additional 21,280 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in Torm in the first quarter valued at about $7,705,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Torm by 209.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 130,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,639,000 after acquiring an additional 88,318 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Torm by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 122,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,482,000 after acquiring an additional 6,483 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Torm during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,632,000. 73.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Torm Price Performance

Shares of Torm stock opened at $42.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.09 and a beta of 0.07. Torm has a 1-year low of $19.30 and a 1-year high of $43.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $36.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The company reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $662.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $499.01 million. Torm had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 27.24%.

Torm Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $2.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 10th. This is a boost from Torm’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $9.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 22.5%. Torm’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.49%.

Torm Company Profile

TORM plc is a maritime transportation company that owns and operates a fleet of product tankers. The company primarily transports refined petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and naphtha, connecting refineries, storage facilities and distribution markets around the world.

TORM’s fleet serves the global clean-product tanker market and includes vessels in several size categories, such as long-range and medium-range tankers. Its vessels operate on international trade routes, supporting the movement of energy products between major production and consumption regions.

Founded in Denmark in 1889, TORM has grown into an international shipping company headquartered in Copenhagen.