Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) Rating Increased to Buy at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) from an underperform rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $100.00 target price on the shipping company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $76.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on STNG. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Scorpio Tankers to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research raised Scorpio Tankers from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Evercore set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Dnb Carnegie downgraded shares of Scorpio Tankers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.17.

Scorpio Tankers Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:STNG traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $85.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,250,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,201,193. The company has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.37 and a beta of -0.24. Scorpio Tankers has a 12 month low of $37.96 and a 12 month high of $87.39. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.12. The company has a quick ratio of 9.23, a current ratio of 13.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $3.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.23. Scorpio Tankers had a net margin of 48.44% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The company had revenue of $312.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $286.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. Scorpio Tankers’s quarterly revenue was up 46.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Scorpio Tankers will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scorpio Tankers Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Scorpio Tankers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STNG. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,286 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 17.4% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,160 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 15.8% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 1,418 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 67.9% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 507 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 1.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 12,131 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $680,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. 54.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Scorpio Tankers Company Profile

Scorpio Tankers Inc (NYSE: STNG) is an independent provider of marine transportation services, specializing in the carriage of refined petroleum products. The company’s core operations focus on moving clean petroleum cargoes—such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and naphtha—on a global scale. By catering to both spot and time charter markets, Scorpio Tankers enables energy companies, refiners and traders to manage their supply chains with flexibility and reliability.

The company’s fleet is composed of modern, eco-designed product tankers, including medium range (MR) and long range (LR) vessels.