Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Ardmore Shipping Corporation has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from five brokerages, with an average price target of $12.67.
• The company recently reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.18, while also posting a revenue of $72.05 million, significantly higher than expected.
• Ardmore Shipping announced a dividend of $0.05 per share, with a notable dividend yield of 205.0% and a payout ratio of 27.18%.

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Buy" by the five research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.6667.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Evercore ISI set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE ASC traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $11.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 156,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 645,876. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.99. The stock has a market cap of $470.79 million, a P/E ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 0.05. Ardmore Shipping has a 52 week low of $8.32 and a 52 week high of $19.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.88 and a quick ratio of 3.56.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The shipping company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $72.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.92 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This is an increase from Ardmore Shipping's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. Ardmore Shipping's payout ratio is 19.42%.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASC. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 545.0% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 3,683 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 3,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.