Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Director Curtis Mcwilliams Sells 2,572 Shares

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Director Curtis Mcwilliams sold 2,572 shares of Ardmore Shipping stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.05, for a total value of $48,996.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 78,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,487,824.05. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ASC opened at $18.77 on Friday. 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 Corporation has a one year low of $9.18 and a one year high of $20.02. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $16.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.76. The company has a market capitalization of $764.67 million, a P/E ratio of 14.12 and a beta of 0.03.

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

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASC. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,219 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 4.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,701 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 6.1% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 boosted its holdings in shares of 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. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ardmore Shipping currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.00.

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.