Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Trading Down 4.6% – What’s Next?

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC)’s stock price was down 4.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $17.26 and last traded at $17.1630. Approximately 205,351 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 671,354 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ASC shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen cut Ardmore Shipping from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 4.84 and a current ratio of 5.45. The company has a market capitalization of $719.70 million, a PE ratio of 6.82 and a beta of 0.03.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The shipping company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $116.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.30 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 29.67% and a return on equity of 15.24%.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 17.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is 60.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,878,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 1.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,452,462 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $37,399,000 after purchasing an additional 24,244 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,780,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 18.1% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,736,632 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $26,484,000 after purchasing an additional 266,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flat Footed LLC purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter valued at approximately $13,293,599,000. 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.