Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $5.02, but opened at $5.34. Nordic American Tankers shares last traded at $5.29, with a volume of 1,324,774 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on NAT shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $3.50 target price on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nordic American Tankers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Nordic American Tankers presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.25.

Nordic American Tankers Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 73.51 and a beta of -0.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $4.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.94.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The shipping company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $58.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $69.43 million. Nordic American Tankers had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 2.47%. On average, equities analysts expect that Nordic American Tankers Limited will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordic American Tankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is a boost from Nordic American Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.2%. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 971.43%.

Institutional Trading of Nordic American Tankers

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NAT. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,729,256 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $40,348,000 after purchasing an additional 354,013 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 25.2% in the 3rd 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 period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Nordic American Tankers by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,124,150 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $16,090,000 after buying an additional 369,462 shares in the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP lifted its position in Nordic American Tankers by 110.1% in the 4th quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 3,700,409 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $12,729,000 after buying an additional 1,939,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,568,766 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $6,756,000 after buying an additional 16,535 shares during the period. 44.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Nordic American Tankers

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.