Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Trading Down 5% – Should You Sell?

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) shares fell 5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $15.19 and last traded at $15.1940. Approximately 74,227 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 698,656 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASC has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Evercore set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.02. The firm has a market cap of $667.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 0.04.

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

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is currently 117.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ardmore Shipping news, Director Curtis B. Mcwilliams sold 16,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.38, for a total transaction of $315,448.26. Following the sale, the director directly owned 60,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,175,842.74. The trade was a 21.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Bart B. Kelleher sold 8,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the president directly owned 60,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,144,943.73. This trade represents a 11.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 40,000 shares of company stock valued at $766,048 over the last quarter.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 10.2% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,219 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $193,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 23,047 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 1,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 361,658 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,830,000 after buying an additional 1,580 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

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.