Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) to Strong-Buy

International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) was upgraded by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on INSW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on International Seaways from $63.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Pareto Securities raised International Seaways from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Zacks Research raised International Seaways from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised International Seaways from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded International Seaways from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Seaways has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

International Seaways Stock Performance

Shares of INSW opened at $79.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.71, a quick ratio of 3.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78 and a beta of -0.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.16 and a 200 day moving average of $59.20. International Seaways has a 12 month low of $32.90 and a 12 month high of $79.80.

International Seaways (NYSE:INSW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The transportation company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.70. The company had revenue of $267.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.29 million. International Seaways had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 36.67%.International Seaways’s revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that International Seaways will post 9.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Seaways

In other International Seaways news, SVP Derek G. Solon sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.41, for a total transaction of $452,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 50,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,845,080.49. This represents a 10.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Alexandra Kate Blankenship sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.88, for a total value of $374,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $764,749.44. This trade represents a 32.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 60,697 shares of company stock valued at $4,517,070 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Seaways

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Corp grew its holdings in International Seaways by 121.6% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 687 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in International Seaways by 99.5% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 758 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in International Seaways during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of International Seaways in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of International Seaways by 583.0% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 963 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares during the period. 67.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.