Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.6667.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ASC. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Zacks Research cut Ardmore Shipping from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE ASC opened at $11.93 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $484.39 million, a PE ratio of 15.29 and a beta of -0.08. Ardmore Shipping has a 12-month low of $8.32 and a 12-month high of $13.56. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.61. The company has a quick ratio of 4.08, a current ratio of 4.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The shipping company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $81.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.38 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 11.50% and a return on equity of 6.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter worth approximately $21,019,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 6.5% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,749,153 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $20,762,000 after buying an additional 106,497 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Ardmore Shipping by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,298,294 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $15,411,000 after buying an additional 16,524 shares during the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,242,297 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $11,926,000 after acquiring an additional 40,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 496,757 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $4,769,000 after acquiring an additional 32,347 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.