BW LPG (NYSE:BWLP) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

BW LPG Limited (NYSE:BWLP) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $20.94 and last traded at $20.7120, with a volume of 16378 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BWLP. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of BW LPG from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BW LPG from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BW LPG in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Dnb Carnegie downgraded shares of BW LPG from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

BW LPG Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 1.32.

BW LPG (NYSE:BWLP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.09. BW LPG had a net margin of 6.76% and a return on equity of 12.61%. The company had revenue of $732.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $217.18 million.

BW LPG Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.5652 per share. This is an increase from BW LPG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. BW LPG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 142.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in BW LPG by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,621,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,163,000 after purchasing an additional 35,066 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in BW LPG by 12.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,530,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,131,000 after purchasing an additional 272,882 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in BW LPG by 8.8% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,395,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,413,000 after purchasing an additional 113,275 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in BW LPG by 41.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 560,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,613,000 after purchasing an additional 164,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fearnley Asset Management AS acquired a new position in BW LPG during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,388,000.

BW LPG Company Profile

BW LPG (NYSE: BWLP) is a pure‐play owner and operator of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers. The company’s core business centers on the maritime transportation of LPG, predominantly propane and butane, under both time‐ and voyage‐charter arrangements. Its fleet comprises pressurized and semi‐refrigerated vessels designed to meet the specific requirements of LPG producers, traders and end‐users around the world.

Headquartered in Singapore, BW LPG serves a global customer base, with commercial offices in key energy hubs including Houston, London, Dubai and Tokyo.