Short Interest in Okeanis Eco Tankers Corp. (NYSE:ECO) Grows By 74.3%

Okeanis Eco Tankers Corp. (NYSE:ECO) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 137,085 shares, an increase of 74.3% from the April 15th total of 78,662 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 413,407 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. B. Riley Financial increased their target price on shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Clarkson Capital downgraded shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Okeanis Eco Tankers has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.02.

Okeanis Eco Tankers Stock Performance

NYSE:ECO traded down $1.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $54.62. The stock had a trading volume of 307,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 489,123. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.65 and a beta of 0.09. Okeanis Eco Tankers has a twelve month low of $21.27 and a twelve month high of $58.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.09.

Okeanis Eco Tankers (NYSE:ECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.59. The firm had revenue of $170.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $134.02 million. Okeanis Eco Tankers had a net margin of 41.26% and a return on equity of 37.13%. On average, analysts expect that Okeanis Eco Tankers will post 9.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Okeanis Eco Tankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $2.00 per share. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 28th. This is a positive change from Okeanis Eco Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. Okeanis Eco Tankers’s payout ratio is 109.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Okeanis Eco Tankers

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ECO. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers by 56.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 150,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,328,000 after acquiring an additional 54,528 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $613,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 46,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after acquiring an additional 5,558 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 132,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,880,000 after acquiring an additional 10,016 shares during the period.

Okeanis Eco Tankers Company Profile

Okeanis Eco Tankers Corp. is a Marshall Islands–incorporated, publicly traded shipping company specializing in the ownership and operation of eco-design product tankers. The company made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “ECO” in May 2019 following an initial public offering. It focuses on the acquisition of newbuilding medium-range (MR) and long-range (LR) product tankers designed to deliver enhanced fuel efficiency and reduced emissions.

As of its public listing, Okeanis Eco Tankers’ fleet comprises twelve eco-efficient vessels built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries in South Korea.