Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

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

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of Ardmore Shipping stock opened at $17.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $708.94 million, a PE ratio of 6.69 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.19. Ardmore Shipping has a one year low of $11.78 and a one year high of $23.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 3.50.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.05. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 36.31% and a return on equity of 24.26%. The company had revenue of $121.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. Ardmore Shipping’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Ardmore Shipping will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASC. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 47.2% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,400,981 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $31,564,000 after purchasing an additional 449,200 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 27.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,124,835 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $25,343,000 after purchasing an additional 241,748 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 51.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 541,103 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $8,885,000 after buying an additional 182,650 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter worth about $4,012,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 135.1% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 308,200 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,936,000 after buying an additional 177,130 shares during the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.