Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) Short Interest Up 48.0% in February

Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 474,084 shares, a growth of 48.0% from the February 12th total of 320,369 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 620,692 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 620,692 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TRMD. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Torm in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Torm from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.00.

Torm Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Torm stock opened at $24.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 8.55 and a beta of -0.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $25.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.72. Torm has a 1 year low of $13.60 and a 1 year high of $31.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $347.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $236.21 million. Torm had a return on equity of 13.26% and a net margin of 21.29%. Equities research analysts predict that Torm will post 6.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Torm Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase from Torm’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 12th. Torm’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Torm

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TRMD. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Torm in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC purchased a new position in Torm in the second quarter valued at $46,000. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new position in Torm in the third quarter valued at $120,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Torm in the fourth quarter worth about $121,000. Finally, Weaver Consulting Group purchased a new stake in shares of Torm during the 2nd quarter worth about $167,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.89% of the company’s stock.

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.