Short Interest in Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT) Grows By 75.3%

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 18,647,101 shares, a growth of 75.3% from the April 15th total of 10,635,172 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,813,093 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days. Approximately 9.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Nordic American Tankers Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NAT opened at $5.52 on Wednesday. Nordic American Tankers has a 1-year low of $2.55 and a 1-year high of $6.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $5.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 78.93 and a beta of -0.54.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 27th. The shipping company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.03). Nordic American Tankers had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 2.47%. The business had revenue of $58.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $69.43 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nordic American Tankers will post 0.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nordic American Tankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.3%. This is a boost from Nordic American Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. Nordic American Tankers’s payout ratio is 971.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Evercore downgraded Nordic American Tankers from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $4.50 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nordic American Tankers currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $4.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NAT. CenterBook Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 110.1% during the fourth quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 3,700,409 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $12,729,000 after buying an additional 1,939,211 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 108.3% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,429,423 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $7,628,000 after buying an additional 1,263,228 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 25.2% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,260,627 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $16,518,000 after buying an additional 1,057,232 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 83.9% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,277,830 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $7,152,000 after buying an additional 1,039,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simcoe Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers during the fourth quarter valued at $3,522,000. 44.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nordic American Tankers Company Profile

Nordic American Tankers Limited is a Bermuda-based shipping company specializing in the ownership and operation of Suezmax crude oil tankers. The company’s fleet is employed on the spot and period charter markets, transporting crude oil across major global trade routes. By focusing on commercially flexible employment strategies, Nordic American Tankers seeks to optimize vessel utilization and generate stable income for shareholders.

Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, Nordic American Tankers maintains technical and commercial management arrangements through established ship-management partners.