Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) President Bart Kelleher Sells 8,000 Shares

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) President Bart Kelleher sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.07, for a total transaction of $152,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 60,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,144,943.73. The trade was a 11.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of Ardmore Shipping stock traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.84. The company had a trading volume of 839,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 701,103. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.40. The stock has a market cap of $767.39 million, a PE ratio of 21.17 and a beta of 0.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 4.33 and a quick ratio of 3.98. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a 1-year low of $9.18 and a 1-year high of $19.20.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The shipping company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $82.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.00 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 7.02%.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Evercore set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the first quarter worth $218,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 13.5% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 42,920 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,093 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 28.0% in the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 164,436 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,508,000 after purchasing an additional 35,923 shares during the period. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC lifted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 12.0% in the first quarter. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC now owns 16,702 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the first quarter worth $407,000. 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.