Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Share Price Passes Below Fifty Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) shares passed below its fifty day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $12.17 and traded as low as $11.22. Ardmore Shipping shares last traded at $11.4040, with a volume of 640,845 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ASC shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered Ardmore Shipping from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ardmore Shipping currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.67.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 1.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 4.08, a current ratio of 4.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.30. The firm has a market cap of $463.23 million, a P/E ratio of 14.62 and a beta of -0.11.

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

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 14.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,241 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 17,263 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $173,000 after buying an additional 1,024 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,701 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 40,720 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 1,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

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.