Jefferies Financial Group Has Lowered Expectations for Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Stock Price

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) had its price objective lowered by Jefferies Financial Group from $4.00 to $3.50 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the shipping company’s stock.

NAT has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com lowered Nordic American Tankers from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Nordic American Tankers from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th.

Nordic American Tankers Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE NAT traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $3.02. 922,126 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,508,177. The company’s 50-day moving average is $3.50 and its 200-day moving average is $3.75. Nordic American Tankers has a 52-week low of $2.95 and a 52-week high of $4.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $630.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55 and a beta of -0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shipping company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $66.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.34 million. Nordic American Tankers had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 26.35%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. Analysts expect that Nordic American Tankers will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nordic American Tankers Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 15.89%. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 165.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 8.5% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 36,894 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 2,904 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 6.9% in the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 46,596 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 3,003 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Nordic American Tankers by 50.1% during the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 16,024 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 5,347 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Nordic American Tankers during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Nordic American Tankers by 26.4% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,213 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 6,940 shares during the period. 44.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nordic American Tankers Company Profile

Nordic American Tankers Limited, a tanker company, acquires and charters double-hull tankers in Bermuda and internationally. It operates a fleet of 20 Suezmax crude oil tankers. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.