Investors Purchase Large Volume of Scorpio Tankers Put Options (NYSE:STNG)

Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 2,012 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 41% compared to the typical volume of 1,428 put options.

Scorpio Tankers Stock Performance

STNG opened at $54.83 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.63. Scorpio Tankers has a 52-week low of $30.63 and a 52-week high of $65.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 4.75 and a current ratio of 4.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.28 and a beta of -0.27.

Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.10. Scorpio Tankers had a return on equity of 7.42% and a net margin of 32.01%.The firm had revenue of $232.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $228.09 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Scorpio Tankers will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scorpio Tankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. This is a positive change from Scorpio Tankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Scorpio Tankers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.43%.

Institutional Trading of Scorpio Tankers

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STNG. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Scorpio Tankers in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,890,000. Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Scorpio Tankers during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,471,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Scorpio Tankers by 136.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 853,712 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $43,394,000 after purchasing an additional 492,584 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Scorpio Tankers by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 806,049 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $45,179,000 after purchasing an additional 326,973 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 91.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 642,673 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $25,148,000 after buying an additional 307,815 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STNG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered Scorpio Tankers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America downgraded Scorpio Tankers from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Scorpio Tankers and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Scorpio Tankers has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.20.

About Scorpio Tankers

Scorpio Tankers Inc (NYSE: STNG) is an independent provider of marine transportation services, specializing in the carriage of refined petroleum products. The company’s core operations focus on moving clean petroleum cargoes—such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and naphtha—on a global scale. By catering to both spot and time charter markets, Scorpio Tankers enables energy companies, refiners and traders to manage their supply chains with flexibility and reliability.

The company’s fleet is composed of modern, eco-designed product tankers, including medium range (MR) and long range (LR) vessels.