Short Interest in TORM plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) Grows By 40.0%

TORM plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,730,000 shares, an increase of 40.0% from the October 15th total of 1,950,000 shares. Approximately 5.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 979,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Institutional Trading of TORM

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new stake in shares of TORM in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in TORM by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new stake in TORM during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Syquant Capital Sas bought a new position in TORM in the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in TORM in the first quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TRMD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of TORM to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of TORM from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on TORM from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday.

TORM Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of TORM stock traded down $0.78 during trading on Friday, reaching $22.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,646,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 777,752. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.47. TORM has a one year low of $22.72 and a one year high of $40.47.

TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $437.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $325.38 million. TORM had a return on equity of 34.45% and a net margin of 43.81%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.14 EPS. Analysts expect that TORM will post 6.41 EPS for the current year.

TORM Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.876 dividend. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. TORM’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.05%.

About TORM

TORM plc, a shipping company, owns and operates a fleet of product tankers in the United Kingdom. It operates in two operating segments, Tanker and Marine Exhaust. The Tanker segment transports refined oil products, such as gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, naphtha, and gas oil, as well as dirty petroleum products, including fuel oil.