Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT)

Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC lessened its position in Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT) by 23.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,500 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nordic American Tankers were worth $48,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nordic American Tankers during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Nordic American Tankers during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Nordic American Tankers during the third quarter valued at $31,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new stake in Nordic American Tankers in the third quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers in the first quarter worth $25,000. 44.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on NAT shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Nordic American Tankers from $5.00 to $4.50 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Nordic American Tankers from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $5.50 target price on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nordic American Tankers currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.33.

Nordic American Tankers Price Performance

Shares of NAT stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $3.92. The company had a trading volume of 1,206,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,071,621. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $4.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.20. Nordic American Tankers Limited has a 52-week low of $3.26 and a 52-week high of $4.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $818.50 million, a P/E ratio of 8.40 and a beta of -0.10.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 1st. The shipping company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $59.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.90 million. Nordic American Tankers had a net margin of 37.65% and a return on equity of 18.12%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Nordic American Tankers Limited will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordic American Tankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 19th. This is a positive change from Nordic American Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 102.13%.

Nordic American Tankers Profile

Nordic American Tankers Limited, a tanker company, acquires and charters double-hull tankers in Bermuda and internationally. It operates a fleet of 19 Suezmax crude oil tankers. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.