Folketrygdfondet Grows Stake in Torm Plc $TRMD

Folketrygdfondet grew its holdings in shares of Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) by 174.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 238,662 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 151,563 shares during the quarter. Torm comprises about 0.3% of Folketrygdfondet’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Folketrygdfondet’s holdings in Torm were worth $4,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Torm by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 116,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,319,000 after buying an additional 2,611 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Torm by 198.5% in the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 31,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 21,161 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Torm by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 148,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,913,000 after buying an additional 4,975 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Torm by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 27,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,000 after buying an additional 4,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Torm in the 4th quarter valued at $121,000. Institutional investors own 73.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Torm in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Evercore set a $35.00 price target on shares of Torm in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Torm from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Pareto Securities lowered shares of Torm from a “hold” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Torm presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

Insider Activity at Torm

In other news, CEO Jacob Balslev Meldgaard sold 170,133 shares of Torm stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.30, for a total transaction of $5,495,295.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 348,411 shares in the company, valued at $11,253,675.30. The trade was a 32.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Torm Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of TRMD stock opened at $28.95 on Friday. Torm Plc has a 12-month low of $16.36 and a 12-month high of $35.33. The company has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 0.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $30.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.15). Torm had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 24.45%.The company had revenue of $402.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $297.43 million.

Torm Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.7%. Torm’s payout ratio is currently 60.00%.

Torm Profile

Torm A/S (NASDAQ: TRMD) is an international shipping company specializing in the transportation of refined petroleum products. The firm owns and operates a modern fleet of product tankers, including both Handysize and MR vessels, which are designed to carry a broad range of clean petroleum cargoes such as gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. Torm’s core business revolves around voyage and time-charter contracts with major oil companies, trading houses and other energy sector clients around the world.

The company’s fleet is deployed on global trade routes, with particular focus on major refining and consumption regions in Europe, North America and Asia.