BW LPG (NYSE:BWLP) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BW LPG (NYSE:BWLP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on BWLP. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BW LPG in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Dnb Carnegie lowered BW LPG from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets cut BW LPG from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BW LPG has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

BW LPG Price Performance

NYSE:BWLP opened at $17.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 1.80. BW LPG has a 12 month low of $7.86 and a 12 month high of $18.84. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.38.

BW LPG (NYSE:BWLP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.09. BW LPG had a net margin of 6.76% and a return on equity of 12.61%. The company had revenue of $732.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $217.18 million.

BW LPG Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.5652 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from BW LPG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.9%. BW LPG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 142.50%.

Institutional Trading of BW LPG

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BW LPG by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,621,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,163,000 after buying an additional 35,066 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of BW LPG by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,530,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,131,000 after buying an additional 272,882 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of BW LPG by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,395,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,413,000 after buying an additional 113,275 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of BW LPG by 41.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 560,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,613,000 after acquiring an additional 164,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fearnley Asset Management AS bought a new stake in shares of BW LPG during the fourth quarter worth $5,388,000.

BW LPG Company Profile

BW LPG (NYSE: BWLP) is a pure?play owner and operator of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers. The company’s core business centers on the maritime transportation of LPG, predominantly propane and butane, under both time? and voyage?charter arrangements. Its fleet comprises pressurized and semi?refrigerated vessels designed to meet the specific requirements of LPG producers, traders and end?users around the world.

Headquartered in Singapore, BW LPG serves a global customer base, with commercial offices in key energy hubs including Houston, London, Dubai and Tokyo.