UPDATE: Stifel Nicolaus Initiates Tsakos Energy Navigation at Buy on Positive Outlook

In a report published Thursday, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Benjamin Nolan initiated coverage on Tsakos Energy Navigation TNP with a Buy rating and $6.00 price target.

In the report, Stifel Nicolaus noted, “We are initiating coverage on Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd (TNP) with a Buy rating on the shares and a $6 target price. While Tsakos does have a substantial amount of exposure to the structurally challenged crude tanker sector, the company is a leader in the product tanker segment, which we believe is poised for a cyclical recovery that should drive up earnings and cash flows for the company. Also, Tsakos has a meaningful group of fixed rate assets that could be spun off into an MLP, potentially serving as a catalyst for the shares. With the shares trading at 6.7x our 2015 EV/EBITDA estimate, which reflects only modest improvements in product tanker rates and below the historical industry average multiple of 7x-8x, we believe the shares are likely to trade closer to the historical range of 6x-7x as market fundamentals improve.”

Tsakos Energy Navigation closed on Wednesday at $4.70.