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

Key Points

• Ardmore Shipping Corporation has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from six brokerages, with an average target price of $12.67 over the next twelve months.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.07 per share, up from $0.05, representing a 2.6% dividend yield.
• Ardmore Shipping reported earnings of $0.22 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, despite a 40.6% decline in revenue year-over-year.

Shares of Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $12.6667.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ardmore Shipping from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI set a $13.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Wednesday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the second quarter worth about $21,019,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 4.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,642,656 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $15,769,000 after acquiring an additional 69,788 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 5.2% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,487,111 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $14,559,000 after acquiring an additional 73,557 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. grew its position in Ardmore Shipping by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,242,297 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $11,926,000 after purchasing an additional 40,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP grew its position in Ardmore Shipping by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 879,760 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $8,613,000 after purchasing an additional 49,340 shares in the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ASC opened at $10.98 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $11.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.45. Ardmore Shipping has a 1-year low of $8.32 and a 1-year high of $17.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $446.01 million, a P/E ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a current ratio of 3.88, a quick ratio of 3.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

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

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Ardmore Shipping's payout ratio is presently 27.18%.

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.

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