Short Interest in Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) Drops By 45.7%

Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,015,404 shares, a decrease of 45.7% from the May 31st total of 1,868,749 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 693,716 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Torm Stock Up 5.5%

NASDAQ TRMD opened at $27.70 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $30.22 and a 200-day moving average of $26.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.15 and a beta of 0.10. Torm has a 52 week low of $17.04 and a 52 week high of $35.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $402.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $297.43 million. Torm had a net margin of 24.45% and a return on equity of 15.81%.

Torm Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. Torm’s payout ratio is currently 60.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on TRMD. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Torm in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Pareto Securities lowered Torm from a “hold” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Torm from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 13th. Finally, Evercore set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Torm in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jacob Balslev Meldgaard sold 170,133 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.30, for a total transaction of $5,495,295.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 348,411 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,253,675.30. This trade represents a 32.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew 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 worth $86,032,000 after buying an additional 21,280 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Torm by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,341,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,629,000 after buying an additional 11,457 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Torm in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,830,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Torm by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 536,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,503,000 after acquiring an additional 110,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Torm during the 2nd quarter worth $7,523,000. Institutional investors own 73.89% of the company’s stock.

Torm Company Profile

Torm A/S (NASDAQ: TRMD) is an international shipping company specializing in the transportation of refined petroleum products. The firm owns and operates a modern fleet of product tankers, including both Handysize and MR vessels, which are designed to carry a broad range of clean petroleum cargoes such as gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. Torm’s core business revolves around voyage and time-charter contracts with major oil companies, trading houses and other energy sector clients around the world.

The company’s fleet is deployed on global trade routes, with particular focus on major refining and consumption regions in Europe, North America and Asia.