Tsakos Energy Navigation saw its share price jump by nearly 7.1% on Wednesday after the New York-listed company hiked its dividends by half.
Shares of the tanker and LNG carrier owner known as TEN closed at $24.59, reversing a week of slumps on the New York Stock Exchange.
The jump came after the company reported net income of $76m for the second quarter, up 26% from the same period of 2023, and lifted its twice-per-year dividend to $0.90 from $0.60 six months ago.
But the large share price spike also comes in the wake of three months of declines for TEN’s stock, which was worth $31.38 when it hit its high point for the year in June.
Volatility in the company’s stock price plunge since then led Alliance Global Partners analyst Poe Fratt to ask how share buybacks fit into the Greek shipowner’s capital allocation strategy.
When companies want to return capital to shareholders, they typically consider repurchasing shares or dividends.
Nikolas Tsakos, chief executive whose family controls the largest stake in TEN shares, ruled out snapping up shares.
“Stock buyback is not in the forefront of our over financial strategy,” he told Fratt in a conference call to discuss the earnings report.
He said TEN’s shares are “quite illiquid” and insiders control about 40%, and the company would rather “reward shareholders for staying” than pay them to leave.
“We used to do some buybacks back in the day because we’ve been around so long. We’ve done everything,” he said.
“But I think, from experience, we’d rather pay our shareholders to stay than send them home with a check.”
