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

Shares of Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.00.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 3.1%

NYSE:ASC opened at $13.64 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $555.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32 and a beta of -0.16. The company has a quick ratio of 3.98, a current ratio of 4.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $13.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.48. Ardmore Shipping has a 52 week low of $8.32 and a 52 week high of $16.91.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The shipping company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $82.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.00 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 7.02%. Research analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.45%.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Ardmore Shipping by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,428,218 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $25,715,000 after purchasing an additional 20,009 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 6.5% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,749,153 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $20,762,000 after acquiring an additional 106,497 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,298,294 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $15,411,000 after acquiring an additional 16,524 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,242,297 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $11,926,000 after purchasing an additional 40,460 shares during the period. Finally, Ticino Wealth acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the fourth quarter worth $7,647,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.