Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Increases Dividend to $0.31 Per Share

Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 8th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of 0.31 per share by the shipping company on Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This is an increase from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21.

Ardmore Shipping has raised its dividend payment by an average of 184.4% annually over the last three years.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of ASC opened at $20.72 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $16.52 and a 200 day moving average of $15.31. The company has a market capitalization of $841.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.48 and a beta of 0.36. Ardmore Shipping has a 12 month low of $11.59 and a 12 month high of $20.72. The company has a current ratio of 3.75, a quick ratio of 3.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The shipping company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $106.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.46 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 29.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Ardmore Shipping Company Profile

Ardmore Shipping Corporation engages in the seaborne transportation of petroleum products and chemicals worldwide. The company's fleet consists of 22 owned vessels including 21 Eco-design and 1 Eco-mod vessel, and four chartered-in vessels. It serves oil majors, oil companies, oil and chemical traders, chemical companies, and pooling service providers.