Insider Selling: Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) CEO Sells $5,495,295.90 in Stock

Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) CEO Jacob Balslev Meldgaard sold 170,133 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.30, for a total transaction of $5,495,295.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 348,411 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,253,675.30. This represents a 32.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Jacob Balslev Meldgaard also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, May 18th, Jacob Balslev Meldgaard sold 379,014 shares of Torm stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.94, for a total transaction of $12,105,707.16.

Torm Stock Down 3.7%

Torm stock opened at $31.29 on Friday. Torm Plc has a twelve month low of $15.79 and a twelve month high of $35.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.58. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.20 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.15). Torm had a net margin of 24.45% and a return on equity of 15.81%. The company had revenue of $402.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $297.43 million.

Torm Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 28th. Torm’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Torm

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TRMD. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Torm by 1,346.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 87,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,438,000 after acquiring an additional 81,251 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Torm by 39.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 16,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 4,776 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Torm by 0.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 83,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Torm by 22.4% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 3,221 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Torm in the second quarter valued at about $190,000. Institutional investors own 73.89% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRMD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Torm from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Torm in a report on Friday, April 17th. Pareto Securities downgraded shares of Torm from a “hold” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Evercore set a $35.00 target price on shares of Torm in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.00.

Torm Company Profile

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.