Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) Shares Up 7.8% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG) rose 7.8% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $59.33 and last traded at $59.19. Approximately 467,165 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 1,228,631 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on STNG. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Evercore ISI set a $80.00 target price on Scorpio Tankers and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a report on Thursday, October 30th. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Scorpio Tankers from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scorpio Tankers currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.17.

Scorpio Tankers Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 9.88 and a beta of -0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 4.75 and a current ratio of 4.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $55.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.12.

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

Scorpio Tankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Scorpio Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Scorpio Tankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scorpio Tankers

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Scorpio Tankers in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,890,000. Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,471,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Scorpio Tankers by 136.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 853,712 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $43,394,000 after purchasing an additional 492,584 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew 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 worth $45,179,000 after buying an additional 326,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Scorpio Tankers by 91.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 642,673 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $25,148,000 after buying an additional 307,815 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.64% of the company’s stock.

Scorpio Tankers Company Profile

Scorpio Tankers Inc (NYSE: STNG) is an independent provider of marine transportation services, specializing in the carriage of refined petroleum products. The company’s core operations focus on moving clean petroleum cargoes—such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and naphtha—on a global scale. By catering to both spot and time charter markets, Scorpio Tankers enables energy companies, refiners and traders to manage their supply chains with flexibility and reliability.

The company’s fleet is composed of modern, eco-designed product tankers, including medium range (MR) and long range (LR) vessels.