Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) Short Interest Update

Torm Plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,300,264 shares, a growth of 174.3% from the February 26th total of 474,084 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,481,332 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.9 days.

Torm Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ TRMD opened at $27.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.57 and a beta of -0.01. Torm has a 12 month low of $13.60 and a 12 month high of $31.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $25.98 and a 200-day moving average of $22.98.

Torm (NASDAQ:TRMD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.04. Torm had a net margin of 21.29% and a return on equity of 13.26%. The business had revenue of $347.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $236.21 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Torm will post 6.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Torm Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 12th. This is a positive change from Torm’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Torm’s payout ratio is currently 71.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on TRMD shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Torm from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Torm in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRMD. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Torm by 2.6% during the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in shares of Torm by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 31,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Torm by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 83,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the period. Glenorchy Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Torm by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Glenorchy Capital Ltd now owns 29,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Torm by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 17,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.89% of the company’s stock.

About Torm

Torm A/S (NASDAQ: TRMD) is an international shipping company specializing in the transportation of refined petroleum products. The firm owns and operates a modern fleet of product tankers, including both Handysize and MR vessels, which are designed to carry a broad range of clean petroleum cargoes such as gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. Torm’s core business revolves around voyage and time-charter contracts with major oil companies, trading houses and other energy sector clients around the world.

The company’s fleet is deployed on global trade routes, with particular focus on major refining and consumption regions in Europe, North America and Asia.