Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Shares Gap Down to $21.49

Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) shares gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $21.49, but opened at $20.70. Ardmore Shipping shares last traded at $20.17, with a volume of 293,411 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ASC. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Ardmore Shipping from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com raised Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 1.9 %

The company has a market cap of $812.60 million, a PE ratio of 7.66 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.90.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The shipping company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $106.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.46 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 29.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.20%. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.51%.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 72.7% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,110 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the second quarter worth $70,000. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 8.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 75,950 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,247,000 after acquiring an additional 5,841 shares during the period. Invst LLC increased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 78.3% during the first quarter. Invst LLC now owns 20,166 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 8,856 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 16.8% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 18,906 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 2,719 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

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.