TORM plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) Short Interest Up 40.0% in October

TORM plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,730,000 shares, a growth of 40.0% from the October 15th total of 1,950,000 shares. Approximately 5.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 979,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TORM

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in TORM during the first quarter worth about $1,229,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of TORM during the first quarter worth approximately $115,000. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of TORM by 18.4% in the first 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. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of TORM in the first quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in TORM by 7.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,179,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,221,000 after buying an additional 85,937 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.89% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Fearnley Fonds raised TORM to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on TORM from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target 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 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TRMD traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $22.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,646,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 777,752. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.24. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $30.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.64. TORM has a 1-year low of $22.72 and a 1-year high of $40.47.

TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $437.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $325.38 million. TORM had a return on equity of 34.45% and a net margin of 43.81%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that TORM will post 6.41 EPS for the current year.

TORM Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.876 dividend. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. TORM’s dividend payout ratio is 68.05%.

About TORM

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.