US-listed tanker owner International Seaways has handed shareholders a boost in the form of a stock buyback.
The company said it had repurchased 501,646 of its own shares in open-market deals over the past week.
The average price paid was $49.81 per share, for a total cost of $25m.
The repurchased stock will be retired, Seaways added.
The company still has $25m available under the current $50m share repurchase scheme that expires at the end of 2025.
The stock closed down 2% on Tuesday in New York at $48.23.
Seaways chief executive Lois Zabrocky said: “Seaways continues to deliver on its commitment to returning value to shareholders by utilising our share repurchase programme.
“Over the past few days, we redeployed proceeds from a previously announced vessel sale that resulted in share repurchases amounting to more than 80% of those issued in the prior quarter for fleet renewal,” she added.
The company has previously announced that a dividend of $1.50 per share will be paid on 25 September.
Analysts say buy
Seaways owns and operates a fleet of 82 vessels, including 13 VLCCs, 13 suezmaxes and 38 MRs.
The company’s stock dipped from $50.49 to a low of $48.47 in August following its second-quarter financial report, where its bottom line missed analyst expectations by $0.16 per share.
But shares recovered, hitting $51.31, as the VLCC market ticked up and investors followed analyst advice to buy the dip.
Following the latest earnings report, Stifel’s Ben Nolan said the Seaway’s third-quarter guidance — $37,300 per day with 47% of days booked — is roughly in line with his expectations.
Clarksons Securities’ Frode Morkedal reiterated a “buy” rating with a $70 target price, trumpeting the overall positive tanker market outlook.
