Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Trading Up 7.5% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Ardmore Shipping's shares rose by 7.5%, reaching a last traded price of $13.34, despite a significant decline in trading volume compared to average levels.
• Multiple analysts have maintained a consensus "Buy" rating for Ardmore Shipping, with price targets ranging from $13.00 to $14.00.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend from $0.05 to $0.07, reflecting positive growth in its payout ratio, now at 27.18%.

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 7.5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $13.09 and last traded at $13.34. Approximately 111,236 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 634,763 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.41.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI set a $13.00 price target on Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Ardmore Shipping from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.67.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 3.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 3.56, a current ratio of 3.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $517.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 0.12. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $11.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.25.

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

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a $0.07 dividend. This is an increase from Ardmore Shipping's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. Ardmore Shipping's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 545.0% during 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. bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 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.