BW LPG (NYSE:BWLP) Trading Up 4.8% – What’s Next?

BW LPG Limited (NYSE:BWLP) was up 4.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $15.87 and last traded at $15.9710. Approximately 157,909 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 419,669 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Kepler Capital Markets cut BW LPG from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Clarkson Capital upgraded BW LPG from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BW LPG in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Dnb Carnegie cut BW LPG from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BW LPG presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

BW LPG Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $15.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.28.

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

BW LPG Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $5.4297 per share. This represents a $21.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 135.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from BW LPG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. BW LPG’s dividend payout ratio is currently 142.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BW LPG

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in BW LPG by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,621,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,163,000 after purchasing an additional 35,066 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BW LPG by 12.1% in 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. increased its stake in BW LPG by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,395,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,413,000 after buying an additional 113,275 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in BW LPG by 41.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 560,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,613,000 after buying an additional 164,057 shares during the period. Finally, Fearnley Asset Management AS acquired a new stake in BW LPG during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,388,000.

About BW LPG

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.