Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore set a $19.00 price target on Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

NYSE ASC opened at $17.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $709.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.73 and a beta of 0.03. The company has a quick ratio of 4.84, a current ratio of 5.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $16.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.66. Ardmore Shipping has a twelve month low of $10.17 and a twelve month high of $20.02.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The shipping company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $116.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.30 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 29.67%.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 18.1%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Curtis B. Mcwilliams sold 16,277 shares of Ardmore Shipping stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.38, for a total value of $315,448.26. Following the sale, the director directly owned 60,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,842.74. The trade was a 21.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kirsi Tikka sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $671,466.03. This represents a 25.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 32,000 shares of company stock worth $613,488 over the last ninety days.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 31.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 77,769 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $761,000 after acquiring an additional 18,500 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 4.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,701 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 7.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 234,987 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,301,000 after purchasing an additional 16,458 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 23.1% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 311,162 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,987,000 after purchasing an additional 58,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 1,689.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,444 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 7,972 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.