Ardmore Shipping’s (ASC) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reiterated their buy rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a $15.00 target price on the shipping company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.67.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of ASC stock opened at $12.76 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $12.14 and a 200 day moving average of $10.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 4.46 and a quick ratio of 3.56. Ardmore Shipping has a 1-year low of $8.32 and a 1-year high of $13.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $518.47 million, a PE ratio of 16.36 and a beta of 0.01.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The shipping company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.03. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 11.50% and a return on equity of 6.69%. The firm had revenue of $81.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.38 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is 27.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ASC. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 545.0% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 3,683 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 3,112 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 288.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,310 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 4,684 shares during the period. 62.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ardmore Shipping

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.