Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Director Curtis Mcwilliams Sells 848 Shares

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Director Curtis Mcwilliams sold 848 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.01, for a total value of $16,120.48. Following the transaction, the director owned 76,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,462,819.50. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 2.3%

Ardmore Shipping stock traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $18.83. 842,979 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 716,039. The stock has a market capitalization of $767.07 million, a PE ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.89. The company has a quick ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 4.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a 52 week low of $9.18 and a 52 week high of $20.02.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 9.63%. The company had revenue of $87.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.08 million.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.3%. This is an increase from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.07%.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ASC. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 93.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 139,639 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,129,000 after acquiring an additional 67,473 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 10.2% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 43.3% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 184,844 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,819,000 after acquiring an additional 55,888 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 18.1% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,736,632 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $26,484,000 after acquiring an additional 266,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 11.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 305,706 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $4,662,000 after acquiring an additional 32,450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ardmore Shipping currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Company Profile

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.