Jefferies Financial Group Reaffirms Hold Rating for Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT)

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating reissued by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $3.50 target price on the shipping company's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price target indicates a potential upside of 30.60% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Nordic American Tankers from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Nordic American Tankers from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th.

Nordic American Tankers Stock Performance

Shares of NAT traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $2.68. 6,163,869 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,518,704. The firm has a market capitalization of $559.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.24 and a beta of -0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $3.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.66. Nordic American Tankers has a twelve month low of $2.63 and a twelve month high of $4.64.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shipping company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.03. Nordic American Tankers had a net margin of 26.35% and a return on equity of 11.60%. The company had revenue of $66.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.34 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. Analysts predict that Nordic American Tankers will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Nordic American Tankers

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NAT. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers in the third quarter valued at $4,069,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,606,339 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $46,195,000 after acquiring an additional 621,588 shares in the last quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Nordic American Tankers by 24.8% during the 2nd quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 777,711 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $3,095,000 after acquiring an additional 154,558 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Nordic American Tankers by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,682,487 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $6,595,000 after acquiring an additional 275,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 180.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 420,727 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,674,000 after purchasing an additional 270,946 shares during the period. 44.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Nordic American Tankers

Nordic American Tankers Limited, a tanker company, acquires and charters double-hull tankers in Bermuda and internationally. It operates a fleet of 20 Suezmax crude oil tankers. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.