Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) Downgraded General Maritime (NYSE:GMR) on Limited Upside

A soft tanker market and eroding leverage will limit General Maritime (NYSE:GMR) in the near term, according to Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), and they lowered their rating on them from "Outperform" to "Market Perform."

"We are downgrading GMR as we believe the continued erosion of GMR's market leverage though trough-level charters, and GMR's sizeable interest burden outweigh its leverage to an eventual improvement in the tanker market. While GMR's recent dividend cut and $22.8 million bridge loan give the company some near-term flexibility, we believe the combination of a soft tanker market and forced asset sales could put additional downward pressure on GMR's NAV, which would likely drive downside for shares," said Wells.

General Maritime was trading at $4.22, up by $0.05, or 1.20 percent as of 12:56 PM EDT.