Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Stock Price Down 5.5% – Here’s Why

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) shares fell 5.5% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $16.72 and last traded at $16.7170. 270,578 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 709,106 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ASC. Evercore set a $19.00 price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note 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 issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 4.87 and a quick ratio of 4.43. The stock has a market cap of $681.82 million, a P/E ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 0.03. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.16.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $87.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.08 million.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.3%. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is currently 27.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardmore Shipping

In other Ardmore Shipping news, Director Kirsi Tikka sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.93, for a total value of $227,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 35,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $671,466.03. This represents a 25.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Curtis B. Mcwilliams sold 16,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.38, for a total transaction of $315,448.26. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 60,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,175,842.74. The trade was a 21.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 40,000 shares of company stock valued at $766,048.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,219 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $193,000 after acquiring an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 4.7% during the first 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 increased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 6.1% during the fourth 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. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 361,658 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

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.