Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) CFO Christopher John Avella Sells 56,500 Shares

Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG) CFO Christopher Avella sold 56,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.57, for a total transaction of $4,891,205.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 178,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,481,659.38. This trade represents a 24.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Scorpio Tankers Stock Performance

Shares of STNG stock opened at $87.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.44 and a beta of -0.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $79.40 and a 200 day moving average of $77.58. Scorpio Tankers Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.93 and a 52 week high of $90.06. The company has a quick ratio of 6.89, a current ratio of 6.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The shipping company reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.56 by $0.12. Scorpio Tankers had a net margin of 67.16% and a return on equity of 16.43%. The business had revenue of $408.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $398.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 77.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Scorpio Tankers Inc. will post 11.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Scorpio Tankers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Scorpio Tankers’s payout ratio is currently 11.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Scorpio Tankers by 4.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,128,150 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $233,544,000 after acquiring an additional 122,874 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 7.6% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 918,223 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $68,555,000 after purchasing an additional 64,511 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 9.3% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 244,364 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $18,244,000 after purchasing an additional 20,878 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 20.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 240,545 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $17,959,000 after purchasing an additional 41,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 9.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 132,975 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $9,928,000 after purchasing an additional 11,829 shares during the last quarter. 54.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 target price on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Zacks Research cut Scorpio Tankers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on Scorpio Tankers from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $86.00 price target on Scorpio Tankers in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.57.

Key Stories Impacting Scorpio Tankers

Here are the key news stories impacting Scorpio Tankers this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BTIG’s higher price target gives investors a stronger bullish valuation signal, particularly as STNG trades near its 12-month high and has recently reported strong earnings growth. Benzinga coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: A broader article highlights shipping stocks with dividend yields as high as 9% but cautions that contract structures, balance sheets and payout histories vary widely. The discussion may increase attention on shipping dividends, but it does not provide a specific new catalyst for STNG. Shipping stock dividend article
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders reported sizable share sales totaling roughly $36.6 million. President Robert Bugbee sold 231,799 shares, CFO Christopher Avella sold 56,500, COO Cameron Mackey sold 125,000, and insider Auste Adelborg sold 6,834 shares. The executives retained substantial holdings, and insider sales can reflect diversification or planned liquidity needs, but the concentration of selling may weigh on sentiment because it reduces insiders’ positions.

About Scorpio Tankers

Scorpio Tankers Inc is a marine transportation company that owns, operates and manages a fleet of product tankers. The company transports refined petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and heating oil, as well as certain petrochemical feedstocks, for energy companies, commodity traders and other commercial customers.

Scorpio Tankers’ fleet has included medium-range, long-range and handymax product tankers, which serve different trade routes and cargo requirements. Its vessels operate internationally, carrying refined petroleum products between major refining, storage and consumption centers across regions including the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

The company was established in 2009 and is headquartered in Monaco.