Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Increases Dividend to $0.07 Per Share

Key Points

• Ardmore Shipping Corporation has announced a new dividend of $0.07 per share, which reflects a 40% increase from their previous dividend of $0.05.
• The company boasts a 263.0% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 15.9%, indicating that the dividend is well covered by earnings.
• In its latest earnings report, Ardmore Shipping recorded an EPS of $0.22, exceeding estimates, despite a 40.6% decline in quarterly revenue year-over-year.

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 30th, investing.com reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of 0.07 per share by the shipping company on Friday, September 12th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This is a 40.0% increase from Ardmore Shipping's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05.

Ardmore Shipping has a payout ratio of 15.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Ardmore Shipping to earn $1.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.5%.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASC traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $11.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 178,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 643,986. Ardmore Shipping has a fifty-two week low of $8.32 and a fifty-two week high of $19.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $474.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 0.05. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $10.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 3.56 and a current ratio of 3.88.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The shipping company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.04. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 14.48%.The business had revenue of $72.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.92 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 40.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the 1st quarter worth approximately $394,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Ardmore Shipping by 1,647.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 670,993 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $8,153,000 after purchasing an additional 632,592 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC raised its position in Ardmore Shipping by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 430,441 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $4,214,000 after purchasing an additional 27,907 shares during the last quarter. Michels Family Financial LLC bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the 4th quarter worth approximately $350,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 35,458 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares during the period. 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.