Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) Cut to “Underperform” at Bank of America

Bank of America downgraded shares of Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) from a buy rating to an underperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI set a $80.00 price target on shares of Scorpio Tankers and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Scorpio Tankers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Scorpio Tankers currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.20.

Scorpio Tankers Price Performance

Shares of STNG opened at $54.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.28 and a beta of -0.27. Scorpio Tankers has a 52-week low of $30.63 and a 52-week high of $65.52. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $56.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 4.75 and a current ratio of 4.81.

Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.10. Scorpio Tankers had a net margin of 32.01% and a return on equity of 7.42%. The company had revenue of $232.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $228.09 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Scorpio Tankers will post 5.29 EPS for the current year.

Scorpio Tankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This is a positive change from Scorpio Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Scorpio Tankers’s payout ratio is presently 28.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scorpio Tankers

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 136.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 853,712 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $43,394,000 after acquiring an additional 492,584 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,466 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,317,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Scorpio Tankers in the 3rd quarter worth about $95,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in Scorpio Tankers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $266,000. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Scorpio Tankers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $319,000. 54.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Scorpio Tankers Company Profile

Scorpio Tankers Inc (NYSE: STNG) is an independent provider of marine transportation services, specializing in the carriage of refined petroleum products. The company’s core operations focus on moving clean petroleum cargoes—such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and naphtha—on a global scale. By catering to both spot and time charter markets, Scorpio Tankers enables energy companies, refiners and traders to manage their supply chains with flexibility and reliability.

The company’s fleet is composed of modern, eco-designed product tankers, including medium range (MR) and long range (LR) vessels.