Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com cut shares of Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 price objective on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Nordic American Tankers from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th.

Nordic American Tankers Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE NAT opened at $3.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $677.56 million, a P/E ratio of 11.19 and a beta of -0.20. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Nordic American Tankers has a 52 week low of $3.23 and a 52 week high of $4.78.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shipping company reported $0.10 earnings per share 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 net margin of 26.35% and a return on equity of 11.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Nordic American Tankers will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nordic American Tankers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 165.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nordic American Tankers

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NAT. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 355.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 118,585 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 92,552 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 236,324 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 10,444 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Nordic American Tankers during the first quarter worth about $41,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 46.3% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 109,406 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 34,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 44.3% in the first quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 51,426 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 15,780 shares during the period. 44.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Nordic American Tankers

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.