Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.00.

TRMD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Torm in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Torm from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Torm from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th.

Torm Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:TRMD opened at $28.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $24.53 and its 200-day moving average is $22.50. The company has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.94 and a beta of -0.01. Torm has a 52-week low of $13.60 and a 52-week high of $31.76.

Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $347.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $236.21 million. Torm had a return on equity of 13.26% and a net margin of 21.29%. Equities research analysts predict that Torm will post 6.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Torm Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 12th. This is a positive change from Torm’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Torm’s payout ratio is presently 63.73%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Torm

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TRMD. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Torm during the second quarter worth about $20,998,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Torm in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,523,000. Marnell Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Torm in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,815,000. Fearnley Asset Management AS bought a new stake in shares of Torm in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,048,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Torm by 613.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 206,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,258,000 after purchasing an additional 177,551 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.89% of the company’s stock.

About Torm

Torm A/S (NASDAQ: TRMD) is an international shipping company specializing in the transportation of refined petroleum products. The firm owns and operates a modern fleet of product tankers, including both Handysize and MR vessels, which are designed to carry a broad range of clean petroleum cargoes such as gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. Torm’s core business revolves around voyage and time-charter contracts with major oil companies, trading houses and other energy sector clients around the world.

The company’s fleet is deployed on global trade routes, with particular focus on major refining and consumption regions in Europe, North America and Asia.