Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The shipping company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 29.50%. The firm had revenue of $106.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.46 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. Ardmore Shipping’s revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Up 0.4 %

ASC traded up $0.09 during trading on Thursday, hitting $20.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,289,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 643,609. Ardmore Shipping has a twelve month low of $11.59 and a twelve month high of $20.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $16.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 3.75 and a quick ratio of 3.38. The stock has a market cap of $830.01 million, a PE ratio of 7.45 and a beta of 0.36.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.07%. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ASC shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report 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.