Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:ASC opened at $18.12 on Friday. Ardmore Shipping has a fifty-two week low of $10.31 and a fifty-two week high of $20.02. The company has a quick ratio of 4.84, a current ratio of 5.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.53. The company has a market cap of $738.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 0.05.

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

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 17.4%. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is 122.01%.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASC. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the 2nd quarter worth about $49,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 1,689.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,444 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 7,972 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 536.3% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,737 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364 shares in the last quarter. 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.