Curtis Mcwilliams Sells 16,277 Shares of Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Stock

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Director Curtis Mcwilliams sold 16,277 shares of Ardmore Shipping stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.38, for a total transaction of $315,448.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 60,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,175,842.74. The trade was a 21.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE ASC traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $18.83. 842,979 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 716,039. The company has a quick ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 4.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $767.07 million, a PE ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $16.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.89. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a 12 month low of $9.18 and a 12 month high of $20.02.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $87.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.08 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 9.63%.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.3%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter worth $38,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter worth $59,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 1,689.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,444 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 7,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 536.3% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,737 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ardmore Shipping currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Company Profile

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.