Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Bank of America downgraded the stock from a buy rating to an underperform rating. The stock had previously closed at $56.18, but opened at $54.50. Scorpio Tankers shares last traded at $53.6050, with a volume of 271,448 shares changing hands.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Scorpio Tankers and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered Scorpio Tankers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Scorpio Tankers by 110.3% during the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 469 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 67.9% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 507 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Scorpio Tankers during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 77.1% in the second quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 758 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.64% of the company’s stock.

Scorpio Tankers Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.06 and a beta of -0.27. The business has a 50 day moving average of $56.29 and a 200 day moving average of $52.54. The company has a quick ratio of 4.75, a current ratio of 4.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.10. Scorpio Tankers had a return on equity of 7.42% and a net margin of 32.01%.The firm had revenue of $232.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $228.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.75 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Scorpio Tankers Inc. will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Scorpio Tankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a positive change from Scorpio Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Scorpio Tankers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.43%.

About Scorpio Tankers

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.