Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,624,355 shares, an increase of 26.8% from the February 26th total of 1,281,388 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,489,218 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days. Approximately 3.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on STNG shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Scorpio Tankers from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a report on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America upped their price target on Scorpio Tankers from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Scorpio Tankers from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One equities 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.50.

Scorpio Tankers Stock Performance

Shares of STNG stock opened at $74.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.57 and a beta of -0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 9.23 and a current ratio of 9.33. Scorpio Tankers has a one year low of $30.63 and a one year high of $81.85. The company’s 50-day moving average is $69.82 and its 200 day moving average is $61.49.

Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.25. Scorpio Tankers had a net margin of 36.70% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The business had revenue of $252.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.93 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Scorpio Tankers will post 5.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scorpio Tankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were given a $0.45 dividend. This is a boost from Scorpio Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Scorpio Tankers’s payout ratio is currently 25.46%.

Institutional Trading of Scorpio Tankers

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,286 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 17.4% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,160 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 15.8% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 1,418 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 67.9% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 507 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 12,131 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $680,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.64% of the company’s stock.

About Scorpio Tankers

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.