American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 554,368 Shares of Nordic American Tankers Limited $NAT

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT) by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,203,395 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 554,368 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 1.99% of Nordic American Tankers worth $11,055,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NAT. Savant Capital LLC bought a new stake in Nordic American Tankers in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 33.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,865 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 3,998 shares during the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nordic American Tankers in the first quarter worth approximately $49,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 312.3% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,974 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 16,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Nordic American Tankers by 41.2% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 23,501 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 6,854 shares during the period. 44.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nordic American Tankers Price Performance

Shares of Nordic American Tankers stock opened at $3.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $794.06 million, a PE ratio of 187.59 and a beta of -0.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3.54 and a 200 day moving average of $3.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Nordic American Tankers Limited has a 12 month low of $2.13 and a 12 month high of $3.93.

Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 28th. The shipping company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.01 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $40.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.89 million. Nordic American Tankers had a return on equity of 0.39% and a net margin of 1.12%. On average, research analysts expect that Nordic American Tankers Limited will post 0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nordic American Tankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.9%. This is an increase from Nordic American Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. Nordic American Tankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2,000.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NAT. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $3.50 target price on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a report on Friday, November 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Nordic American Tankers from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nordic American Tankers in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Nordic American Tankers from $2.50 to $3.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.25.

About Nordic American Tankers

Nordic American Tankers Limited, a tanker company, acquires and charters double-hull tankers in Bermuda and internationally. It operates a fleet of 20 Suezmax crude oil tankers. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.