Jefferies Financial Group Has Lowered Expectations for Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Stock Price

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) had its price objective decreased by Jefferies Financial Group from $4.00 to $3.50 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the shipping company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Nordic American Tankers from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Nordic American Tankers from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th.

Nordic American Tankers Price Performance

Shares of NAT opened at $2.98 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $3.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.74. Nordic American Tankers has a 1-year low of $2.95 and a 1-year high of $4.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $622.22 million, a PE ratio of 10.28 and a beta of -0.21.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shipping company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.03. Nordic American Tankers had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 26.35%. The business had revenue of $66.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.34 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Nordic American Tankers will post 0.28 EPS for the current year.

Nordic American Tankers Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 16.11%. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 165.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 274.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 268,115 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $984,000 after buying an additional 196,571 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 46.0% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 86,357 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 27,210 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,774,100 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $13,851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,521,900 shares during the period. Penn Mutual Asset Management grew its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Penn Mutual Asset Management now owns 134,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 27,000 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 198.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 207,008 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 137,745 shares in the last quarter. 44.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nordic American Tankers Company Profile

Nordic American Tankers Limited, a tanker company, acquires and charters double-hull tankers in Bermuda and internationally. It operates a fleet of 20 Suezmax crude oil tankers. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.