Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Receives $13.67 Average PT from Brokerages

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.6667.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research cut Ardmore Shipping from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASC. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 288.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,310 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 4,684 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 2.2%

ASC stock opened at $11.98 on Friday. Ardmore Shipping has a one year low of $8.32 and a one year high of $13.85. The firm has a market cap of $486.42 million, a PE ratio of 15.35 and a beta of -0.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $12.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 4.08 and a current ratio of 4.46.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The shipping company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.03. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 11.50%.The company had revenue of $81.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This is an increase from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.28%.

Ardmore Shipping Company Profile

Ardmore Shipping Corporation engages in the seaborne transportation of petroleum products and chemicals worldwide. The company's fleet consists of 22 owned vessels including 21 Eco-design and 1 Eco-mod vessel, and four chartered-in vessels. It serves oil majors, oil companies, oil and chemical traders, chemical companies, and pooling service providers.