Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Director Curtis Mcwilliams Sells 848 Shares

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Director Curtis Mcwilliams sold 848 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.01, for a total transaction of $16,120.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 76,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,462,819.50. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of ASC stock traded down $0.44 on Tuesday, reaching $18.83. The stock had a trading volume of 842,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 716,039. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $16.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $767.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.03. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a 12 month low of $9.18 and a 12 month high of $20.02.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $87.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.08 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 9.63%.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is currently 27.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore set a $19.00 price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.00.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASC. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 31.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 77,769 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $761,000 after purchasing an additional 18,500 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 4.7% in 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 period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 7.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 234,987 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,301,000 after purchasing an additional 16,458 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 23.1% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 311,162 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,987,000 after buying an additional 58,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 1,689.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,444 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 7,972 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

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.