Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT) by 89.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,192 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 114,564 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Nordic American Tankers were worth $52,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NAT. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Nordic American Tankers in the 1st quarter valued at $47,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Nordic American Tankers by 8.5% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 36,894 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 2,904 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Nordic American Tankers by 19.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,682,487 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,595,000 after buying an additional 275,707 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Nordic American Tankers by 18.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 58,791 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 8,985 shares during the period. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Nordic American Tankers in the first quarter valued at about $45,000. 44.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nordic American Tankers Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE:NAT opened at $2.88 on Wednesday. Nordic American Tankers Limited has a 1 year low of $2.88 and a 1 year high of $4.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $3.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.69. 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 company has a market cap of $601.33 million, a P/E ratio of 9.93 and a beta of -0.21.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shipping company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $66.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.34 million. Nordic American Tankers had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 26.35%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Nordic American Tankers Limited will post 0.28 EPS for the current year.

Nordic American Tankers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 16.67%. Nordic American Tankers’s payout ratio is currently 165.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Nordic American Tankers from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Nordic American Tankers from $4.00 to $3.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Nordic American Tankers from $4.50 to $4.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th.

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.