Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Receives $17.00 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the four brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $17.00.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Evercore set a $19.00 target price on Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter worth $38,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter worth $59,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 1,689.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,444 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 7,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 536.3% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,737 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Up 2.7%

NYSE ASC opened at $19.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $776.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42 and a beta of 0.03. Ardmore Shipping has a 52 week low of $9.18 and a 52 week high of $19.20. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $15.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.40. The company has a quick ratio of 3.98, a current ratio of 4.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The shipping company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $82.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.00 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 7.02% and a net margin of 13.22%.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.45%.

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.