Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $20.03 and last traded at $19.1550, with a volume of 1049829 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $19.53.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASC has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore set a $19.00 target price on Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 1.1%

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.71. The firm has a market cap of $764.09 million, a P/E ratio of 14.11 and a beta of 0.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 4.87 and a quick ratio of 4.43.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 9.63% and a net margin of 18.00%.The business had revenue of $87.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.08 million.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.3%. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardmore Shipping

In other Ardmore Shipping news, Director Kirsi Tikka sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.93, for a total transaction of $227,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 35,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $671,466.03. This trade represents a 25.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Bart B. Kelleher sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.07, for a total transaction of $152,560.00. Following the sale, the president owned 60,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,144,943.73. This represents a 11.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASC. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,749,153 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $20,762,000 after acquiring an additional 106,497 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $864,000. Ticino Wealth bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,647,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,170,000. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $475,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Company Profile

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.