Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Given New $22.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) had its target price lifted by Stifel Nicolaus from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the shipping company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Ardmore Shipping from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Thursday, February 15th.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE ASC opened at $15.88 on Friday. Ardmore Shipping has a one year low of $11.59 and a one year high of $17.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $645.20 million, a PE ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 3.75, a quick ratio of 3.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $16.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.92.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The shipping company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 29.50%. The firm had revenue of $98.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.26 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 25.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.29%. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is currently 30.77%.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the first quarter valued at approximately $166,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the 1st quarter valued at $54,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 358,453 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,051,000 after buying an additional 33,240 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 696,697 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $9,816,000 after buying an additional 134,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.