TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) Shares Down 5% – Here’s Why

TORM plc (NASDAQ:TRMD) dropped 5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $19.35 and last traded at $19.38. Approximately 1,009,063 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 1,499,925 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRMD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Fearnley Fonds upgraded TORM to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of TORM from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th.

TORM Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $20.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.12.

TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.06. TORM had a net margin of 43.81% and a return on equity of 34.45%. The firm had revenue of $372.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $273.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that TORM plc will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

TORM Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.876 per share. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 17.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. TORM’s payout ratio is 45.28%.

Institutional Trading of TORM

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TRMD. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of TORM by 860.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,429,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,176 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in shares of TORM by 2.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,266,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,315,000 after buying an additional 32,500 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in TORM by 65.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 384,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,140,000 after acquiring an additional 151,942 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of TORM in the third quarter valued at $7,359,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its position in TORM by 42.7% in the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 147,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,730,000 after purchasing an additional 44,259 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.89% of the company’s stock.

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.