TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) Shares Up 1.9% – Time to Buy?

TORM plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) rose 1.9% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $25.55 and last traded at $25.21. 693,803 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 7% from the average daily volume of 747,574 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on TRMD shares. Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of TORM to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of TORM from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd.

TORM Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 3.18, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $437.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $325.38 million. TORM had a net margin of 43.81% and a return on equity of 36.06%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.14 EPS. On average, analysts expect that TORM plc will post 7.12 EPS for the current year.

TORM Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a $1.80 dividend. This is a boost from TORM’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 29.03%. TORM’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TORM

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in shares of TORM during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,229,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of TORM in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,836,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in TORM in the first quarter valued at approximately $115,000. PFG Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of TORM in the 1st quarter worth $237,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in TORM by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 79,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,700,000 after buying an additional 12,353 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.89% of the company’s stock.

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.