Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on ASC. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a buy rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

ASC stock opened at $16.03 on Friday. Ardmore Shipping has a 1-year low of $11.59 and a 1-year high of $17.05. The company has a current ratio of 3.75, a quick ratio of 3.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $16.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.94. The firm has a market cap of $651.30 million, a PE ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 0.38.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The shipping company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $98.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.26 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 29.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ardmore Shipping will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.24%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the first quarter worth about $54,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 87.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,382 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,042 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter worth approximately $141,000. MJP Associates Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

About Ardmore Shipping

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.