Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

STNG has been the topic of a number of other reports. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Scorpio Tankers from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Scorpio Tankers from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $82.00 price target on shares of Scorpio Tankers and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research report on Friday, April 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.71.

Scorpio Tankers Trading Up 0.8%

STNG stock opened at $78.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.72 and a beta of -0.24. The company has a quick ratio of 13.87, a current ratio of 13.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.99. Scorpio Tankers has a 52 week low of $42.20 and a 52 week high of $87.39.

Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The shipping company reported $3.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.23. Scorpio Tankers had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 48.44%.The business had revenue of $312.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $286.81 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 46.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Scorpio Tankers will post 13.07 EPS for the current year.

Scorpio Tankers Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Scorpio Tankers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scorpio Tankers

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Scorpio Tankers in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,471,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 136.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 853,712 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $43,394,000 after purchasing an additional 492,584 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 68.3% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 806,049 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $45,179,000 after purchasing an additional 326,973 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 91.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 642,673 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $25,148,000 after purchasing an additional 307,815 shares during the period. Finally, Credit Agricole S A acquired a new stake in Scorpio Tankers during the 3rd quarter valued at $16,703,000. 54.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scorpio Tankers Company Profile

Scorpio Tankers Inc (NYSE: STNG) is an independent provider of marine transportation services, specializing in the carriage of refined petroleum products. The company’s core operations focus on moving clean petroleum cargoes—such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and naphtha—on a global scale. By catering to both spot and time charter markets, Scorpio Tankers enables energy companies, refiners and traders to manage their supply chains with flexibility and reliability.

The company’s fleet is composed of modern, eco-designed product tankers, including medium range (MR) and long range (LR) vessels.