Curtis Mcwilliams Sells 2,572 Shares of Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Stock

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Director Curtis Mcwilliams sold 2,572 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.05, for a total value of $48,996.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 78,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,487,824.05. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

Ardmore Shipping stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $18.77. 471,826 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 704,217. The company has a quick ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 4.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business has a fifty day moving average of $16.07 and a 200 day moving average of $13.71. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a 1-year low of $9.18 and a 1-year high of $20.02. The company has a market capitalization of $764.68 million, a PE ratio of 14.12 and a beta of 0.03.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 9.63% and a net margin of 18.00%.The company had revenue of $87.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.08 million.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.3%. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is 117.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ASC shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore set a $19.00 target price on Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.00.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 6.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,749,153 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $20,762,000 after buying an additional 106,497 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter valued at about $864,000. Ticino Wealth bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,647,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter valued at about $1,170,000. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter valued at about $475,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.