Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.6667.

ASC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI set a $13.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Zacks Research cut shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of ASC stock opened at $10.98 on Friday. Ardmore Shipping has a 52-week low of $8.32 and a 52-week high of $17.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 3.56 and a current ratio of 3.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.45. The company has a market capitalization of $446.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 0.09.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The shipping company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.04. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The business had revenue of $72.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 545.0% during the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 3,683 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 3,112 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 288.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,310 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 4,684 shares in the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Company Profile

Ardmore Shipping Corporation engages in the seaborne transportation of petroleum products and chemicals worldwide. The company's fleet consists of 22 owned vessels including 21 Eco-design and 1 Eco-mod vessel, and four chartered-in vessels. It serves oil majors, oil companies, oil and chemical traders, chemical companies, and pooling service providers.