A focus on debt repayments and short-term weakness in the tanker market have led Morgan Stanley to downgrade shares in Greek shipowner Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN).
Analyst Fotis Giannakoulis dropped the stock to equal weight today, suggesting the upcoming refinancing of preferred stocks and high debt repayments could eat into the company’s liquidity.
Giannakoulis said with the capital markets closed to “small, illiquid, and high yield stocks”, and tanker rates challenged, Tsakos would likely need to use existing cash to repay its series B and C convertible shares before coupons begin to escalate.
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