TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of TORM plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $17.42, but opened at $17.89. TORM shares last traded at $17.85, with a volume of 129,961 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TRMD shares. Pareto Securities raised shares of TORM from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of TORM from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of TORM from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets downgraded shares of TORM from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TORM presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.50.

TORM Stock Up 2.8%

The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.13. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.27.

TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $214.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $244.25 million. TORM had a return on equity of 34.45% and a net margin of 43.81%. Sell-side analysts predict that TORM plc will post 6.27 earnings per share for the current year.

TORM Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.58%. TORM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.47%.

Institutional Trading of TORM

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of TORM by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 153,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,959,000 after buying an additional 50,589 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in TORM by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,885,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,417,000 after purchasing an additional 345,463 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in TORM by 174.3% in the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 43,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 27,465 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in TORM by 86.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 61,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after purchasing an additional 28,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC raised its position in TORM by 129.3% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 41,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 23,337 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.