Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $32.00 and last traded at $31.7850, with a volume of 12440 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TRMD. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Torm in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Evercore set a $35.00 price target on shares of Torm in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Torm from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

Torm Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $28.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 0.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $352.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $236.21 million. Torm had a net margin of 21.29% and a return on equity of 13.26%.

Torm Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 12th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This is an increase from Torm’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 12th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.7%. Torm’s payout ratio is currently 71.83%.

Institutional Trading of Torm

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TRMD. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Torm in the 4th quarter valued at $24,830,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Torm during the second quarter worth $7,523,000. Marnell Management LLC purchased a new stake in Torm during the fourth quarter worth $4,815,000. Fearnley Asset Management AS purchased a new stake in Torm during the fourth quarter worth $4,048,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Torm by 613.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 206,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,258,000 after buying an additional 177,551 shares in the last quarter. 73.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.