Scorpio Tankers’ (STNG) Buy Rating Reiterated at BTIG Research

BTIG Research reiterated their buy rating on shares of Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. BTIG Research currently has a $110.00 price target on the shipping company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on STNG. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a report on Monday, September 14th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $97.00 price target on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Scorpio Tankers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.33.

Scorpio Tankers Price Performance

Shares of NYSE STNG opened at $92.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 20.65 and a quick ratio of 6.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.80. Scorpio Tankers has a 1-year low of $48.93 and a 1-year high of $95.60. The company has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 8.05 and a beta of -0.17.

Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The shipping company reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.43. Scorpio Tankers had a net margin of 77.07% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The company had revenue of $266.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.49 EPS. Scorpio Tankers’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Scorpio Tankers will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Scorpio Tankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This is an increase from Scorpio Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Scorpio Tankers’s payout ratio is currently 9.53%.

Insider Activity at Scorpio Tankers

In related news, CFO Christopher Avella sold 56,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.57, for a total value of $4,891,205.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 178,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,481,659.38. The trade was a 24.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Robert Bugbee sold 231,799 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.19, for a total transaction of $19,978,755.81. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 665,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,341,172.72. The trade was a 25.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 420,133 shares of company stock valued at $36,611,311 over the last three months. Insiders own 7.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 4.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,128,150 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $233,544,000 after purchasing an additional 122,874 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 20.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 240,545 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $17,959,000 after purchasing an additional 41,516 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 47.5% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 118,751 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $8,865,000 after purchasing an additional 38,216 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers during the first quarter valued at about $2,527,000. Finally, Navellier & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 141.7% in the second quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 38,960 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,698,000 after purchasing an additional 22,839 shares during the period. 54.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Scorpio Tankers

Scorpio Tankers Inc is a marine transportation company that owns, operates and manages a fleet of product tankers. The company primarily transports refined petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and heating oil, as well as petrochemical feedstocks and other liquid products.

Its fleet has historically included medium-range, handymax and long-range product tankers, allowing Scorpio Tankers to serve both regional and long-haul trade routes. The company’s vessels transport cargoes between major refining, storage and consumption centers across international markets, supporting energy companies, commodity traders and other commercial customers.

Scorpio Tankers was established in 2009 and is incorporated in the Marshall Islands, with corporate operations based in Monaco.