TORM plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) Short Interest Update

TORM plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) saw a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,890,000 shares, a drop of 24.8% from the February 28th total of 5,170,000 shares. Currently, 7.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,130,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in TORM by 94.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,366,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,585,000 after purchasing an additional 2,115,672 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in TORM during the fourth quarter worth about $21,273,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in TORM by 439.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 430,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,371,000 after acquiring an additional 350,555 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in TORM by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,885,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,417,000 after acquiring an additional 345,463 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of TORM by 353.5% during the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 187,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,613,000 after purchasing an additional 262,149 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.89% of the company’s stock.

TORM Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TRMD opened at $16.48 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.14. TORM has a 12-month low of $16.14 and a 12-month high of $40.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

TORM Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. TORM’s payout ratio is currently 27.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Kepler Capital Markets cut shares of TORM from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th.

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.