Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Trading 6.5% Higher – Still a Buy?

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) shot up 6.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $15.23 and last traded at $15.1750. Approximately 492,200 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average session volume of 704,054 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.25.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore set a $19.00 target price on Ardmore Shipping in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Up 6.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 4.43 and a current ratio of 4.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $615.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 0.04.

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

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.3%. This is an increase from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is 117.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Ardmore Shipping news, President Bart B. Kelleher sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.07, for a total transaction of $152,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 60,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,144,943.73. This trade represents a 11.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Kirsi Tikka sold 12,000 shares of Ardmore Shipping stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.93, for a total value of $227,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 35,471 shares in the company, valued at $671,466.03. This represents a 25.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,000 shares of company stock valued at $766,048.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,452,462 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $37,399,000 after purchasing an additional 24,244 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in 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 during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 18.1% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,736,632 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $26,484,000 after buying an additional 266,275 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 1.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,298,294 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $15,411,000 after buying an additional 16,524 shares during the period. Finally, Ticino Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the fourth quarter valued at about $7,647,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ardmore Shipping

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.