Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.6667.

Several research firms recently weighed in on ASC. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Ardmore Shipping stock opened at $12.23 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $12.25 and its 200 day moving average is $11.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $496.78 million, a PE ratio of 15.68 and a beta of 0.01. Ardmore Shipping has a 1 year low of $8.32 and a 1 year high of $13.85. The company has a current ratio of 4.46, a quick ratio of 4.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The shipping company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $81.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.38 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 11.50% and a return on equity of 6.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. This is an increase from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is 35.90%.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASC. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the 3rd quarter worth about $213,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the 3rd quarter valued at about $551,000. Wexford Capital LP raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 109.0% during the third quarter. Wexford Capital LP now owns 105,929 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,257,000 after buying an additional 55,236 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 32.5% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 46,482 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $552,000 after buying an additional 11,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prelude Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $339,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ardmore Shipping

Ardmore Shipping Corporation engages in the seaborne transportation of petroleum products and chemicals worldwide. The company's fleet consists of 22 owned vessels including 21 Eco-design and 1 Eco-mod vessel, and four chartered-in vessels. It serves oil majors, oil companies, oil and chemical traders, chemical companies, and pooling service providers.