International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

International Seaways Inc. (NYSE:INSW)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $78.51 and last traded at $74.87, with a volume of 238382 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $75.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

INSW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of International Seaways in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of International Seaways from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of International Seaways in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research downgraded International Seaways from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Pareto Securities raised International Seaways from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Seaways presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.00.

International Seaways Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 3.71, a current ratio of 3.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.20 and a beta of -0.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $57.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.62.

International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The transportation company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.70. International Seaways had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 36.67%.The business had revenue of $267.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 37.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that International Seaways Inc. will post 7.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Seaways Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 20th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. International Seaways’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.70%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Pribor sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.29, for a total transaction of $63,290.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,282,373.27. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lois K. Zabrocky sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.56, for a total transaction of $97,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 182,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,858,363.76. This represents a 1.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,000 shares of company stock worth $502,610. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Seaways

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in INSW. Amundi purchased a new stake in International Seaways in the 4th quarter valued at $13,663,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its position in International Seaways by 43.9% during the second quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 709,036 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,866,000 after purchasing an additional 216,325 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in International Seaways by 4,255.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 197,380 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,095,000 after purchasing an additional 192,848 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of International Seaways by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,855,110 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $67,674,000 after buying an additional 159,125 shares during the period. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of International Seaways during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,087,000. 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.