ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (NYSE:ZIM) Short Interest Up 48.5% in August

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (NYSE:ZIM) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,020,000 shares, a growth of 48.5% from the August 15th total of 10,790,000 shares. Currently, 17.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 5,050,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ZIM Integrated Shipping Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services by 2,341.8% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services during the second quarter worth $96,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services during the fourth quarter worth $58,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services by 1,431.1% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 5,667 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in ZIM Integrated Shipping Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $142,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.42% of the company’s stock.

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE ZIM traded up $0.22 on Monday, reaching $18.53. The company had a trading volume of 2,902,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,056,159. ZIM Integrated Shipping Services has a 52 week low of $6.39 and a 52 week high of $23.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $18.62 and its 200-day moving average is $16.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.88, a PEG ratio of 0.04 and a beta of 1.83.

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (NYSE:ZIM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The company reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $1.01. ZIM Integrated Shipping Services had a positive return on equity of 2.89% and a negative net margin of 32.81%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($1.37) EPS. Equities analysts predict that ZIM Integrated Shipping Services will post 10.87 earnings per share for the current year.

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 20.08%. This is a boost from ZIM Integrated Shipping Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. ZIM Integrated Shipping Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -4.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ZIM. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services from $12.50 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on ZIM Integrated Shipping Services from $12.20 to $13.70 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services in a report on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $10.50 price objective on shares of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and upped their target price for the company from $11.60 to $13.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $14.84.

About ZIM Integrated Shipping Services

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides container shipping and related services in Israel and internationally. It provides door-to-door and port-to-port transportation services for various types of customers, including end-users, consolidators, and freight forwarders.