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

Shares of Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.6667.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Up 0.8%

ASC stock opened at $11.94 on Monday. Ardmore Shipping has a twelve month low of $8.32 and a twelve month high of $13.56. The company has a quick ratio of 4.08, a current ratio of 4.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $485.00 million, a PE ratio of 15.31 and a beta of -0.08. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.55.

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

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is presently 51.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 14.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,241 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 931 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,701 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $242,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 23,047 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,333 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 40,720 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Ardmore Shipping by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 283,183 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,361,000 after purchasing an additional 2,765 shares during the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is 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.