Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Share Price Crosses Above 50 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC)’s share price passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $16.77 and traded as high as $18.39. Ardmore Shipping shares last traded at $17.7470, with a volume of 657,121 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded 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 target on Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ardmore Shipping has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.16. The company has a quick ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 4.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $722.84 million, a PE ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 0.03.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $87.92 million for 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.07%.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Bart B. Kelleher sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.07, for a total value of $152,560.00. Following the transaction, the president directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Kirsi Tikka sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.93, for a total value of $227,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 35,471 shares in the company, valued at $671,466.03. This represents a 25.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 40,000 shares of company stock valued at $766,048.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the first quarter valued at about $1,033,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 93.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 139,639 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,129,000 after purchasing an additional 67,473 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 10.2% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 43.3% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 184,844 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,819,000 after buying an additional 55,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 18.1% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,736,632 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $26,484,000 after buying an additional 266,275 shares during the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.