Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on ASC. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 2.5 %

ASC opened at $17.52 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $19.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $732.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.71 and a beta of 0.35. Ardmore Shipping has a fifty-two week low of $11.78 and a fifty-two week high of $23.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 3.50.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $121.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.51 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 24.26% and a net margin of 36.31%. Ardmore Shipping’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ardmore Shipping will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.68%. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is 58.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 696,697 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,816,000 after buying an additional 134,233 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 51.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 541,103 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $8,885,000 after acquiring an additional 182,650 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 495,593 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $8,138,000 after acquiring an additional 64,805 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the first quarter valued at about $714,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping during the first quarter worth about $459,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ardmore Shipping Company Profile

Ardmore Shipping Corporation engages in the seaborne transportation of petroleum products and chemicals worldwide. The company's fleet consists of 22 owned vessels including 21 Eco-design and 1 Eco-mod vessel, and four chartered-in vessels. It serves oil majors, oil companies, oil and chemical traders, chemical companies, and pooling service providers.