International Seaways Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:INSW)

International Seaways Inc. (NYSE:INSW) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 4,772 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 199% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,595 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Pribor sold 1,000 shares of International Seaways stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.68, for a total value of $81,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 101,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,330,053.12. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Derek G. Solon sold 4,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.22, for a total value of $419,334.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 49,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,435,929.18. This trade represents a 8.64% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,530 shares of company stock valued at $3,699,995. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Seaways

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in International Seaways by 1.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,024,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $220,436,000 after purchasing an additional 52,743 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in International Seaways by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,010,815 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $49,083,000 after purchasing an additional 4,250 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in International Seaways by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 638,791 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,013,000 after purchasing an additional 12,188 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of International Seaways by 167.6% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 608,265 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $44,330,000 after buying an additional 380,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of International Seaways by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 414,688 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $20,133,000 after buying an additional 27,818 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.29% of the company’s stock.

International Seaways Price Performance

INSW stock opened at $88.61 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.53. The stock has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.07 and a beta of -0.12. International Seaways has a fifty-two week low of $37.93 and a fifty-two week high of $92.66. The company has a quick ratio of 7.28, a current ratio of 7.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The transportation company reported $3.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $1.03. International Seaways had a net margin of 55.39% and a return on equity of 21.04%. The business had revenue of $325.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $279.34 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 77.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that International Seaways will post 14.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Seaways Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. International Seaways’s payout ratio is currently 4.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on INSW. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of International Seaways from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of International Seaways in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Pareto Securities cut shares of International Seaways from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of International Seaways from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of International Seaways from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.00.

About International Seaways

International Seaways, Inc (NYSE: INSW) is an independent tanker company that provides seaborne transportation services to oil companies, commodity traders and national oil companies. The firm’s operations focus on the carriage of crude oil and refined petroleum products, offering both time­ charter and voyage­ charter arrangements. With a modern fleet of very large crude carriers (VLCCs), Suezmax and Aframax tankers, as well as medium range (MR) and Handy product tankers, International Seaways supports global energy supply chains across major trade routes.

Founded in 1997 as Diamond S Shipping, the company completed its initial public offering in the late 1990s and rebranded to International Seaways in September 2018.