Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also commented on TRMD. Pareto Securities lowered Torm from a “hold” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of Torm in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Torm in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Torm Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of TRMD stock opened at $30.18 on Friday. Torm has a 12-month low of $18.24 and a 12-month high of $35.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $28.90 and its 200 day moving average is $28.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 0.09.

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

Torm Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.3%. Torm’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Torm

In other news, CEO Jacob Balslev Meldgaard sold 379,014 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.94, for a total transaction of $12,105,707.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 348,411 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,128,247.34. The trade was a 52.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Torm

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TRMD. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in shares of Torm by 275.8% in the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 91,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,785,000 after purchasing an additional 66,992 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Torm during the 4th quarter valued at $24,830,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Torm by 153.8% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 78,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,190,000 after buying an additional 47,386 shares in the last quarter. Folketrygdfondet lifted its stake in shares of Torm by 174.0% during the 4th quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 238,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,673,000 after buying an additional 151,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marnell Management LLC bought a new position in Torm in the 4th quarter worth $4,815,000. 73.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Torm

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.