TORM PLC (TRMD)

[dealorfx]

DryShips Soars on Buyout Rumors{related topic)

Open interest for DryShips (DRYS) call options soared on what Briefing.com called takeover chatter on Monday.

The rumor mill has been churning feverishly today, sending select stocks soaring on the potential for M&A action. According to Briefing.com, Greek dry bulk shipping giant DryShips could be a potential buyout candidate for Danish conglomerate Maersk. The chatter is sending DryShips shares higher by 9% today while open interest for the stock’s calls outnumbers that of the puts more than ten to one.

As a whole, the Dry Bulk Shipping Stocks Index is ahead by 1% for the session. The sector has now outperformed the S&P 500 by more than 3% over the last month – a period in which DryShips remains far from the top performer.

Excel Maritime Carriers (EXM), Eagle Bulk Shipping (EGLE), Genco Shipping & Trading (GNK), and OceanFreight (OCNF) are all ahead by more than 20% for the period.

As of this writing, Kirby (KEX) remains the largest component of the Dry Bulk Shipping Stocks Index, weighing in at $1.8 billion. DryShips is the runner-up in this category, followed by Diana Shipping (DSX).

It will be interesting to see how traders react to any subsequent developments related to the confirmation or denial of the buyout rumors. Given that no official reports have surfaced, investors can attribute today’s spike to pure speculation.

The Dry Bulk Shipping Stocks Index is consistently among the 30 cheapest tickerspy Indexes by P/E ratio, with an average multiple of 13.6x.

Investors can track the Dry Bulk Shipping Stocks Index for performance trends and a suite of other metrics at tickerspy.com.