Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC – Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the shipping company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on ASC. TheStreet upgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping from a c rating to a b- rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $13.17.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

ASC stock opened at $14.62 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.70. Ardmore Shipping has a fifty-two week low of $4.21 and a fifty-two week high of $19.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $584.51 million, a PE ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.55.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The shipping company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $93.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $83.94 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 38.49% and a net margin of 31.06%. Analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 28th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 27th. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.31%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is 53.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 43.4% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,848,449 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $26,006,000 after purchasing an additional 862,349 shares during the period. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC increased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC now owns 2,547,701 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $17,757,000 after buying an additional 69,510 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,291,314 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $33,019,000 after buying an additional 113,069 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 913,151 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $13,159,000 after acquiring an additional 237,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 519.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 853,129 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,946,000 after acquiring an additional 715,406 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.35% of the company’s stock.

About Ardmore Shipping

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Ardmore Shipping Corp. engages in the provision of seaborne transportation of petroleum products and chemicals worldwide. It also owns and operates a fleet of tankers. The company was founded by Anthony Gurnee on April 15, 2010 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.