Short Interest in DHT Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DHT) Rises By 59.5%

DHT Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DHT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 6,952,574 shares, an increase of 59.5% from the February 26th total of 4,360,326 shares. Approximately 4.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 8,249,740 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of DHT by 178.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 70,582 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $741,000 after acquiring an additional 45,275 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in DHT during the 2nd quarter worth about $171,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in DHT by 190.9% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,020 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,982 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lifted its position in DHT by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 30,472 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 2,936 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of DHT by 34.1% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,189 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 3,859 shares during the last quarter. 58.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

DHT Price Performance

NYSE:DHT traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $18.11. The company had a trading volume of 3,390,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,717,562. The company has a quick ratio of 2.47, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $16.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.96. DHT has a one year low of $8.99 and a one year high of $20.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.82 and a beta of -0.13.

DHT (NYSE:DHT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The shipping company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. DHT had a net margin of 42.35% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The firm had revenue of $117.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.96 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 37.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that DHT will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

DHT Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th were given a $0.41 dividend. This is a boost from DHT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.1%. DHT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 125.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DHT has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised DHT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Dnb Carnegie cut shares of DHT from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of DHT from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of DHT in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, DHT has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.33.

About DHT

DHT Holdings, Inc (NYSE: DHT) is a Bermuda-based independent crude oil tanker company that provides seaborne transportation of crude oil on a worldwide basis. The company’s core business involves the ownership and operation of a modern fleet of Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) and Suezmax tankers, which are chartered to oil producers, trading houses and national oil companies. Through spot charters, time-charters and tanker pooling arrangements, DHT connects crude oil exporters with refining hubs in Asia, Europe, North America and other global markets.

Founded in 2005 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange later that year, DHT has grown its presence in the maritime sector by focusing on operational efficiency and disciplined capital management.