Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.00.

ASC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,241 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 931 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,219 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 4.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,701 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 23,047 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 361,658 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,580 shares during the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of Ardmore Shipping stock opened at $14.45 on Friday. Ardmore Shipping has a one year low of $8.32 and a one year high of $16.91. The company has a market cap of $588.43 million, a PE ratio of 16.23 and a beta of -0.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 3.98 and a current ratio of 4.33. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.55.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The shipping company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 7.02%. The firm had revenue of $82.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.00 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.45%.

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.