Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Stock Crosses Above 50 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Shares of Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $13.94 and traded as high as $15.98. Ardmore Shipping shares last traded at $15.8820, with a volume of 576,443 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ASC. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $646.87 million, a P/E ratio of 17.85 and a beta of -0.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $13.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 3.98 and a current ratio of 4.33.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The shipping company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 7.02% and a net margin of 13.22%.The business had revenue of $82.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.00 million. On average, research analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping Corporation will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.45%.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 31.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 77,769 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $761,000 after acquiring an additional 18,500 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 7.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 234,987 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,301,000 after purchasing an additional 16,458 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 2nd quarter worth about $334,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 2nd quarter worth about $466,000. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.