TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) Trading Up 6.1% – Time to Buy?

TORM plc (NASDAQ:TRMD)’s stock price shot up 6.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $20.69 and last traded at $20.63. 603,773 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average session volume of 836,479 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.45.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRMD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of TORM from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Fearnley Fonds upgraded TORM to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th.

TORM Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $21.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.47.

TORM Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.876 per share. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 17.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. TORM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in TORM by 860.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,429,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,441,000 after buying an additional 1,281,176 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in TORM by 320.5% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,265,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,189,000 after purchasing an additional 964,801 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in TORM during the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,619,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TORM in the third quarter valued at approximately $7,359,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of TORM by 38.9% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 669,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,945,000 after buying an additional 187,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.89% of the company’s stock.

TORM Company Profile

TORM plc, a shipping company, owns and operates a fleet of product tankers in the United Kingdom. It operates in two operating segments, Tanker and Marine Exhaust. The Tanker segment transports refined oil products, such as gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, naphtha, and gas oil, as well as dirty petroleum products, including fuel oil.