BW LPG Limited (NYSE:BWLP) Short Interest Down 54.1% in July

BW LPG Limited (NYSE:BWLP) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 509,791 shares, a drop of 54.1% from the July 15th total of 1,111,253 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 296,010 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BWLP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Dnb Carnegie raised BW LPG from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Pareto Securities cut shares of BW LPG from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of BW LPG from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of BW LPG from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of BW LPG from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Three 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BW LPG

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BWLP. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of BW LPG by 34.6% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,257,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,704,000 after buying an additional 579,987 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of BW LPG in the first quarter worth about $9,646,000. Fearnley Asset Management AS acquired a new position in BW LPG during the fourth quarter worth about $5,388,000. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in BW LPG during the fourth quarter worth about $5,027,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in BW LPG during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,073,000.

BW LPG Price Performance

Shares of BW LPG stock traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.61. 245,163 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 296,642. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.33 and a 200 day moving average of $18.81. BW LPG has a fifty-two week low of $11.72 and a fifty-two week high of $22.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

BW LPG (NYSE:BWLP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 15th. The company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. BW LPG had a return on equity of 18.51% and a net margin of 10.13%.The firm had revenue of $838.89 million for the quarter.

BW LPG Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a $6.196 dividend. This represents a $24.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 109.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. This is an increase from BW LPG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. BW LPG’s payout ratio is 112.61%.

BW LPG Company Profile

BW LPG (NYSE: BWLP) is a pure?play owner and operator of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers. The company’s core business centers on the maritime transportation of LPG, predominantly propane and butane, under both time? and voyage?charter arrangements. Its fleet comprises pressurized and semi?refrigerated vessels designed to meet the specific requirements of LPG producers, traders and end?users around the world.

Headquartered in Singapore, BW LPG serves a global customer base, with commercial offices in key energy hubs including Houston, London, Dubai and Tokyo.