Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Share Price Crosses Below 50 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC)’s stock price crossed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $16.98 and traded as low as $16.16. Ardmore Shipping shares last traded at $16.4410, with a volume of 474,011 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ASC. Wall Street Zen raised shares of 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 research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ardmore Shipping has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 0.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 4.43 and a current ratio of 4.87. The firm has a market cap of $670.09 million and a PE ratio of 12.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.40.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 9.63%. The business had revenue of $87.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.08 million.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.5%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is currently 117.29%.

Insider Activity at Ardmore Shipping

In related news, Director Curtis B. Mcwilliams sold 16,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.38, for a total transaction of $315,448.26. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 60,673 shares in the company, valued at $1,175,842.74. This represents a 21.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Bart B. Kelleher sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.07, for a total transaction of $152,560.00. Following the sale, the president owned 60,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,144,943.73. This represents a 11.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 40,000 shares of company stock worth $766,048 in the last three months.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,452,462 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $37,399,000 after acquiring an additional 24,244 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,749,153 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $20,762,000 after purchasing an additional 106,497 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,736,632 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $26,484,000 after purchasing an additional 266,275 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,298,294 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $15,411,000 after purchasing an additional 16,524 shares during the period. Finally, Ticino Wealth bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,647,000. 62.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.