TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) Shares Up 1.2% – Still a Buy?

TORM plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) traded up 1.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $23.45 and last traded at $23.23. 419,510 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 762,445 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Fearnley Fonds raised TORM to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on TORM from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

TORM Trading Up 4.4 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $30.80 and a 200 day moving average of $34.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.03. TORM had a net margin of 43.81% and a return on equity of 34.45%. The firm had revenue of $437.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $325.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that TORM plc will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

TORM Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.876 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.63%. TORM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.05%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TORM

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in shares of TORM during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp purchased a new position in TORM in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Syquant Capital Sas purchased a new stake in shares of TORM during the second quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of TORM during the first quarter worth $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.89% of the company’s stock.

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.