Scorpio Tankers Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:STNG)

Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders acquired 3,066 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 68% compared to the average daily volume of 1,826 call options.

Institutional Trading of Scorpio Tankers

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 0.3% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,944,875 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $165,064,000 after purchasing an additional 7,868 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Scorpio Tankers by 6.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,678,503 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $100,658,000 after buying an additional 167,218 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,913,729 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $107,265,000 after buying an additional 135,123 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Scorpio Tankers by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,249,834 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $70,053,000 after buying an additional 83,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Scorpio Tankers by 68.3% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 806,049 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $45,179,000 after acquiring an additional 326,973 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.64% of the company’s stock.

Scorpio Tankers Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE STNG traded up $0.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $58.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 899,583 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,008,169. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 4.81 and a quick ratio of 4.75. The company has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a PE ratio of 9.85 and a beta of -0.07. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.11. Scorpio Tankers has a fifty-two week low of $30.63 and a fifty-two week high of $65.52.

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

Scorpio Tankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This is a positive change from Scorpio Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Scorpio Tankers’s payout ratio is currently 28.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Scorpio Tankers from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI set a $80.00 price target on shares of Scorpio Tankers and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Scorpio Tankers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.00.

About Scorpio Tankers

Scorpio Tankers Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the seaborne transportation of crude oi and refined petroleum products in the shipping markets worldwide. As of March 21, 2024, its fleet consisted of 110 owned and leases financed tanker, including 39 LR2, 57 MR, and 14 Handymax with a weighted average age of approximately 8.1 years.