Insider Selling: Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Director Sells $16,120.48 in Stock

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Director Curtis Mcwilliams sold 848 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.01, for a total transaction of $16,120.48. Following the transaction, the director owned 76,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,462,819.50. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of ASC opened at $19.29 on Friday. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a 12 month low of $9.18 and a 12 month high of $20.02. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $785.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50 and a beta of 0.03. The company has a current ratio of 4.87, a quick ratio of 4.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $87.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This is an increase from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is 27.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 3rd quarter worth about $59,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 1,689.0% during the 2nd 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 lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 536.3% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,737 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 7,364 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

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.