BW LPG (NYSE:BWLP) Trading Down 7.8% – Here’s What Happened

BW LPG Limited (NYSE:BWLP)’s share price traded down 7.8% on Friday . The company traded as low as $13.54 and last traded at $13.5380. 152,723 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 410,345 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BWLP shares. Clarkson Capital raised BW LPG from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Dnb Carnegie cut BW LPG from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BW LPG in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BW LPG presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

BW LPG Stock Down 7.5%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion and a PE ratio of 8.50.

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

BW LPG Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $5.4297 dividend. This represents a $21.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 159.8%. This is a positive change from BW LPG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. BW LPG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BW LPG

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in BW LPG by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,621,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,163,000 after buying an additional 35,066 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BW LPG by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,530,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,131,000 after acquiring an additional 272,882 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 113,275 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in BW LPG by 41.4% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 560,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,613,000 after acquiring an additional 164,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fearnley Asset Management AS bought a new position in BW LPG in the fourth quarter valued at $5,388,000.

BW LPG Company Profile

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.