Zacks Research Upgrades International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) to Strong-Buy

International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of International Seaways from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of International Seaways in a research note on Friday, August 7th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on International Seaways from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $107.00 price objective on shares of International Seaways in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their target price on International Seaways from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Seaways currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.80.

International Seaways Trading Up 3.8%

NYSE:INSW opened at $121.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.28 and a beta of -0.14. International Seaways has a one year low of $42.26 and a one year high of $121.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 5.76 and a current ratio of 5.94. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.21.

International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The transportation company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.55 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $467.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $406.38 million. International Seaways had a return on equity of 31.75% and a net margin of 61.98%.International Seaways’s revenue for the quarter was up 138.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.02 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that International Seaways will post 17.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at International Seaways

In other news, CEO Lois Zabrocky sold 2,000 shares of International Seaways stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.01, for a total transaction of $216,020.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 171,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,550,177.45. This trade represents a 1.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Seaways

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of International Seaways in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $505,153,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of International Seaways by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,024,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $220,436,000 after acquiring an additional 52,743 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of International Seaways by 167.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 608,265 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $44,330,000 after acquiring an additional 380,931 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of International Seaways during the second quarter worth $21,082,000. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of International Seaways by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 414,688 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $20,133,000 after purchasing an additional 27,818 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.29% of the company’s stock.

About International Seaways

International Seaways, Inc (NYSE: INSW) is a maritime transportation company that owns and operates oceangoing tankers. The company transports crude oil, refined petroleum products and other liquid cargoes for energy producers, commodity traders, refiners and other customers worldwide.

Its fleet includes crude-oil tankers serving major international trade routes, as well as product tankers used to move gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other refined petroleum products. International Seaways employs a combination of time-charter, voyage-charter and pool arrangements to market its vessels and provide transportation services.

International Seaways was established in 2016 through the separation of the international tanker business from Overseas Shipholding Group.