TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Shares of TORM plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $29.15, but opened at $27.90. TORM shares last traded at $27.88, with a volume of 377,961 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

TORM Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.69.

TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $437.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $325.38 million. TORM had a net margin of 43.81% and a return on equity of 36.06%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that TORM plc will post 7.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TORM Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is an increase 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 26.71%. TORM’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.44%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TORM

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in TORM by 860.9% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,429,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,441,000 after buying an additional 1,281,176 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in TORM by 320.5% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,265,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,189,000 after purchasing an additional 964,801 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in TORM during the second quarter valued at about $9,619,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of TORM during the third quarter valued at about $7,359,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of TORM by 38.9% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 669,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,945,000 after acquiring an additional 187,300 shares during the last quarter. 73.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.