Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $22.07, but opened at $23.00. Torm shares last traded at $22.9010, with a volume of 318,390 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Torm from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Torm in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.00.

Torm Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.50. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 0.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.37.

Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $342.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.49 million. Torm had a return on equity of 13.03% and a net margin of 21.37%. Analysts expect that Torm Plc will post 6.27 EPS for the current year.

Torm Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th were issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.0%. This is a positive change from Torm’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Torm’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.54%.

Institutional Trading of Torm

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Torm by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,329,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,960,000 after buying an additional 94,175 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Torm during the 2nd quarter valued at $20,998,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Torm in the second quarter worth $7,523,000. Lind Value II ApS acquired a new position in shares of Torm in the second quarter worth $7,283,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Torm by 613.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 206,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,258,000 after acquiring an additional 177,551 shares in the last quarter. 73.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Torm

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.