Toro Corp. (NASDAQ:TORO) Short Interest Up 969.8% in April

Toro Corp. (NASDAQ:TORO) was the target of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 254,696 shares, an increase of 969.8% from the April 15th total of 23,808 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,312,220 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.1 days.

Insider Activity at Toro

In other Toro news, CEO Petros Panagiotis Panagiotidis bought 67,407 shares of Toro stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $6.79 per share, with a total value of $457,693.53. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 20,822,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,382,778.74. This trade represents a 0.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 2,315,971 shares of company stock valued at $14,245,930.

Institutional Trading of Toro

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TORO. Founders Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Toro by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 9,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Group One Trading LLC bought a new position in shares of Toro in the third quarter worth about $70,000. Citadel Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Toro in the third quarter worth about $79,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Toro by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 186,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $986,000 after acquiring an additional 30,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 1.74% of the company’s stock.

Toro Stock Down 3.7%

NASDAQ:TORO traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $5.20. 55,026 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 353,403. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $4.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.39. Toro has a one year low of $1.77 and a one year high of $8.50. The firm has a market cap of $111.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.01 and a beta of 2.79.

Toro Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Toro in a report on Friday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Sell”.

About Toro

Toro Corp., a shipping company, acquires, owns, charters, and operates oceangoing tanker vessels and provides seaborne transportation services for crude oil LPG, and refined petroleum products worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Aframax/LR2 Tanker, Handysize Tanker, and LPG Carrier. As of December 31, 2023, it operated a fleet of one Handysize tanker vessel; one Aframax/LR2 vessel; and four LPG carrier vessels with an aggregate cargo carrying capacity of 0.1 million deadweight ton.