Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) Trading Up 5.3% – Should You Buy?

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT) traded up 5.3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $2.78 and last traded at $2.78. 1,427,902 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 2,524,628 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.64.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $3.50 price objective on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Nordic American Tankers from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Nordic American Tankers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday.

Nordic American Tankers Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $578.38 million, a PE ratio of 9.59 and a beta of -0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $3.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.64.

Nordic American Tankers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 17.33%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 165.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Nordic American Tankers by 99.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 25,333 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 12,651 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 274.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 268,115 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $984,000 after buying an additional 196,571 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 46.0% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 86,357 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 27,210 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,774,100 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $13,851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,521,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Penn Mutual Asset Management boosted its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Penn Mutual Asset Management now owns 134,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 27,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.29% of the company’s stock.

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.