Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on ASC. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI set a $13.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.67.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

NYSE:ASC opened at $12.05 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $489.27 million, a PE ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 0.09. Ardmore Shipping has a 1 year low of $8.32 and a 1 year high of $18.79. The company has a current ratio of 3.88, a quick ratio of 3.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.39.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The shipping company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $72.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.92 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The business’s revenue was down 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were given a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 74,053 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $900,000 after acquiring an additional 15,565 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 652.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,919 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 13,803 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 23.0% during the first quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 137,484 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 25,732 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 39,202 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 1st quarter worth approximately $394,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

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.