Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.6667.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Ardmore Shipping from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

NYSE ASC opened at $10.71 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $435.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73 and a beta of -0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 4.46 and a quick ratio of 4.08. Ardmore Shipping has a 12 month low of $8.32 and a 12 month high of $13.85. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $12.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.39.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The shipping company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.03. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 11.50%.The business had revenue of $81.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASC. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 288.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,310 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 4,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 320.8% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,735 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 5,897 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.