Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,840,000 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the November 30th total of 3,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 897,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days. Currently, 7.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scorpio Tankers

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 41,416 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $2,953,000 after buying an additional 992 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Scorpio Tankers by 8.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 57,293 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $3,985,000 after acquiring an additional 4,407 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Scorpio Tankers by 54.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 54,816 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $3,908,000 after acquiring an additional 19,298 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Scorpio Tankers during the 3rd quarter worth $68,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 768,129 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $54,768,000 after purchasing an additional 38,599 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.64% of the company's stock.

Scorpio Tankers Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE:STNG traded up $0.99 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $49.69. 501,845 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 919,452. Scorpio Tankers has a twelve month low of $45.94 and a twelve month high of $84.67. The firm has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.21. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $52.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.16.

Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The shipping company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $267.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $267.91 million. Scorpio Tankers had a return on equity of 22.56% and a net margin of 52.40%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Scorpio Tankers will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scorpio Tankers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. Scorpio Tankers's payout ratio is 11.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on STNG. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Scorpio Tankers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $90.00 to $65.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Scorpio Tankers from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Fearnley Fonds raised Scorpio Tankers to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Scorpio Tankers from $84.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Scorpio Tankers from $73.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $75.40.

About Scorpio Tankers

Scorpio Tankers Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the seaborne transportation of crude oi and refined petroleum products in the shipping markets worldwide. As of March 21, 2024, its fleet consisted of 110 owned and leases financed tanker, including 39 LR2, 57 MR, and 14 Handymax with a weighted average age of approximately 8.1 years.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.