TOP Ships: The Oil Shipper Whose Market Cap Doubled Yesterday

TOP SHIPS Inc TOPS was the latest shipping name to experience a wild daily swing in share price Thursday when the stock closed the day up 109.5 percent on rumors that the company could be a buyout target for rival shipper DryShips Inc. DRYS.

In recent filings, TOP Ships mentions Kalani Investments, a potential proxy for DryShips CEO George Economou. The theory among traders is that Economou, who has reportedly attempted to acquire TOP Ships before in the past, could use Kalani to try to close the deal this time.

“On February 14,2017, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with a non-affiliated non-US investor affiliated with Kalani…” the filing reads.

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TOP Ships owns and operates eco medium range tanker vessels and specializes in crude oil transport. Like most of the rest of the shipping industry, the stock has been hammered in the past three years, plummeting 98.0 percent.

While the long-term outlook for many of these shippers remains cloudy at best, the low float and high short interest associated with many of the names have made for some extremely volatile swings in share price in recent months.

Back in November, DryShips shares surged from a split-adjusted $31 as high as $808 in a matter of days before quickly plummeting back down to below $2.

According to shortsqueeze.com, TOP Ships’ short percent of float currently stands at 22.1 percent.

TOP SHIPS traded recently at $1.89, down 13 percent on Friday.