Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $18.17 and last traded at $18.0750, with a volume of 544854 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $18.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Evercore set a $19.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $745.36 million, a PE ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 0.03. The company has a current ratio of 4.33, a quick ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $15.61 and its 200-day moving average is $13.35.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The shipping company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 7.02%. The firm had revenue of $82.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.00 million.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is 40.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,219 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 985 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,701 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 23,047 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 1,333 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 361,658 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,830,000 after buying an additional 1,580 shares during the period. Finally, Glenorchy Capital Ltd increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Glenorchy Capital Ltd now owns 127,072 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,346,000 after buying an additional 1,582 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

About Ardmore Shipping

Ardmore Shipping Corporation is a Bermuda-based provider of seaborne transportation services for refined petroleum products. The company owns and operates a modern fleet of product tankers, including medium-range (MR), long-range 2 (LR2) and Aframax vessels. Ardmore Shipping focuses on the ocean carriage of clean and dirty petroleum products under time charters, bareboat charters and spot voyages, serving a diverse customer base that includes major oil companies and trading houses.

Since its founding in 2005, Ardmore Shipping has grown its fleet through newbuilding contracts, second-hand acquisitions and fleet renewals, aiming to maintain a high quality, fuel-efficient profile.