Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday. The company traded as high as $8.37 and last traded at $8.3350, with a volume of 2703169 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on NAT shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nordic American Tankers from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. B. Riley Financial increased their target price on shares of Nordic American Tankers from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Nordic American Tankers from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.33.

Nordic American Tankers Stock Up 2.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 3.27 and a quick ratio of 3.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $7.07 and a 200-day moving average of $6.20. The company has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.14 and a beta of -0.56.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 27th. The shipping company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.02. Nordic American Tankers had a net margin of 47.04% and a return on equity of 20.58%. The business had revenue of $79.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.18 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Nordic American Tankers Limited will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordic American Tankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Nordic American Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. Nordic American Tankers’s payout ratio is currently 183.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC boosted its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 18.0% during the first quarter. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC now owns 13,666 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 2,087 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 37,492 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Nordic American Tankers during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Nordic American Tankers in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Nordic American Tankers during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.29% of the company’s stock.

About Nordic American Tankers

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE: NAT) is a Bermuda-based international shipping company that owns and operates crude oil tankers. The company’s fleet is focused primarily on Suezmax vessels, which are designed to transport large quantities of crude oil and are sized to transit the Suez Canal.

Nordic American Tankers employs a combination of voyage charters, time charters and other commercial arrangements to provide crude oil transportation services to customers in the global energy industry.