International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

International Seaways Inc. (NYSE:INSW)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $98.89 and last traded at $98.7290, with a volume of 45467 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $97.05.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on INSW shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of International Seaways in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Pareto Securities lowered shares of International Seaways from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of International Seaways from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research raised shares of International Seaways from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of International Seaways from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Seaways has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.00.

International Seaways Stock Up 2.2%

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.33 and a beta of -0.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 5.94 and a quick ratio of 5.76.

International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The transportation company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.55 by $0.36. International Seaways had a net margin of 61.98% and a return on equity of 31.75%. The company had revenue of $467.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $406.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 138.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that International Seaways Inc. will post 15.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Seaways Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $5.05 per share. This is a positive change from International Seaways’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $20.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 20.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. International Seaways’s payout ratio is currently 3.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Pribor sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.68, for a total transaction of $81,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 101,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,330,053.12. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lois K. Zabrocky sold 2,000 shares of International Seaways stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.34, for a total value of $162,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 177,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,457,778.30. The trade was a 1.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of International Seaways

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in INSW. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in International Seaways during the 2nd quarter worth about $505,153,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of International Seaways by 167.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 608,265 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $44,330,000 after buying an additional 380,931 shares during the period. Amundi acquired a new stake in shares of International Seaways during the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,663,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of International Seaways during the second quarter worth approximately $21,082,000. Finally, Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV acquired a new position in International Seaways in the first quarter valued at approximately $13,145,000. 67.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

International Seaways Company Profile

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.