International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) Trading Up 7.5% – Time to Buy?

International Seaways Inc. (NYSE:INSW) shares were up 7.5% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $51.83 and last traded at $52.1180. Approximately 187,630 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 506,512 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on INSW. Pareto Securities lowered shares of International Seaways from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Zacks Research cut International Seaways from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of International Seaways in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut International Seaways from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.67.

International Seaways Stock Up 7.9%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.88 and a beta of -0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.63) earnings per share for the quarter. International Seaways had a return on equity of 10.13% and a net margin of 28.26%.The business had revenue of $84.82 million during the quarter. On average, analysts forecast that International Seaways Inc. will post 7.77 EPS for the current year.

International Seaways Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 9th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. International Seaways’s dividend payout ratio is 10.93%.

Insider Activity at International Seaways

In other International Seaways news, CFO Jeffrey Pribor sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.26, for a total transaction of $48,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 75,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,631,178.92. This represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Derek G. Solon sold 3,500 shares of International Seaways stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.71, for a total transaction of $187,985.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 49,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,652,898.03. The trade was a 6.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 32,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,698,825. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Seaways

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in International Seaways by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,903,764 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $133,807,000 after acquiring an additional 42,051 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of International Seaways by 7.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,994,978 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $91,929,000 after purchasing an additional 139,868 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of International Seaways by 0.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,006,390 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $36,718,000 after purchasing an additional 6,076 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its position in International Seaways by 43.9% in the second quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 709,036 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,866,000 after buying an additional 216,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in International Seaways by 33.3% in the second quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 399,824 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $14,586,000 after buying an additional 99,914 shares during the last quarter. 67.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About International Seaways

International Seaways, Inc (NYSE: INSW) is an independent tanker company that provides seaborne transportation services to oil companies, commodity traders and national oil companies. The firm’s operations focus on the carriage of crude oil and refined petroleum products, offering both time­ charter and voyage­ charter arrangements. With a modern fleet of very large crude carriers (VLCCs), Suezmax and Aframax tankers, as well as medium range (MR) and Handy product tankers, International Seaways supports global energy supply chains across major trade routes.

Founded in 1997 as Diamond S Shipping, the company completed its initial public offering in the late 1990s and rebranded to International Seaways in September 2018.