Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on ASC. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a buy rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Thursday, February 15th.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

ASC opened at $16.70 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.38, a current ratio of 3.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Ardmore Shipping has a 12 month low of $11.59 and a 12 month high of $17.17. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.11. The stock has a market cap of $678.32 million, a P/E ratio of 6.12 and a beta of 0.38.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The shipping company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $98.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.26 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 29.50% and a return on equity of 22.76%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 25.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ardmore Shipping will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.03%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 1st quarter valued at about $54,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 87.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,382 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 2,042 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. Advisor OS LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Ardmore Shipping Company Profile

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.