BW Group could move even more DHT Holdings shares, potentially netting the Andreas Sohmen-Pao outfit more than $40m during a run in tanker stocks.
The Singapore-based shipping conglomerate disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday that it could sell 7.3m of its 33.5m DHT shares between now and 30 June.
The total value of the block as of 23 March, when shares closed at $5.88, was $43.2m.
With DHT trading as high as $6.71 early Friday, the value had shot up to $49.6m.
BW Group did not immediately return a request for comment.
The filing does not necessarily mean the group will sell the shares, but is required ahead of any sales as BW Group is DHT's largest shareholder.
The potential sale would be the second in the last four months, with BW Group selling 14.68m shares for $101.3m last November.
Then, Sohmen-Pao said the move was made to "balance its portfolio" which also includes Dorian LPG, Flex LNG and, as of Friday, Golar LNG shares. He added that New York-listed DHT was "well-managed" and that BW would remain a "large and supportive shareholder".
Should BW Group sell the whole block, it would remain the tanker owner's largest shareholder — a position held since 2017, when it sold DHT its VLCC fleet in a $538m deal — with 22.6m shares, ahead of Dimensional Fund Advisors and its 10.8m position.
DHT shares traded as low as $4.91 earlier this month, a year-to-date low. Its 52-week low is $4.43.
Thursday, shares closed at $6.68, the highest since 23 January, before Covid-19 had spread across the globe. Its high in 2020 was $8.59, reached on
DHT's 52-week high was $8.83, reached last December. Its high in 2020 was $8.67, reached on 6 January.
Tanker shares have been buoyed by the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, which has seen Saudi Arabia pump millions of additional barrels of oil into a market with depressed demand due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The increase in cargoes has pushed tanker rates higher in recent weeks, with shares following along.
In addition to DHT's jump, Frontline saw its shares shoot as high as $9.35 this month before falling and ultimately recovering to $9.01 Friday.
International Seaways shares hit a peak earlier this month at $23.33, before falling and recovering to $21.84. Diamond S Shipping followed a similar pattern, falling this week and last before hitting $11.42 Friday.
