BW LPG Limited (NYSE:BWLP) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest rose 29.1% in April to 430,532 shares, equal to 0.3% of the stock and a short-interest ratio of 1.4 days.
• BW LPG raised its quarterly dividend to $0.5652 (annualized $2.26), yielding 11.5% and carrying a 142.5% payout ratio.
• The company posted an earnings beat, reporting $0.69 EPS vs. $0.60 expected and revenue of $732.4M versus $217.2M consensus.

BW LPG Limited (NYSE:BWLP - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 430,532 shares, a growth of 29.1% from the March 31st total of 333,601 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 300,369 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days. Currently, 0.3% of the company's stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BWLP. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of BW LPG in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BW LPG from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Dnb Carnegie downgraded shares of BW LPG from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of BW LPG from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold".

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BWLP. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of BW LPG in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of BW LPG in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of BW LPG in the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in shares of BW LPG in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. grew its position in shares of BW LPG by 99.3% in the 3rd quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 4,541 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 2,263 shares during the period.

BW LPG Stock Down 0.6%

BW LPG stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $19.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,006,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 412,209. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 1.80. BW LPG has a 12 month low of $9.83 and a 12 month high of $20.37. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $17.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.53.

BW LPG (NYSE:BWLP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $732.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $217.18 million. BW LPG had a net margin of 6.76% and a return on equity of 12.61%.

BW LPG Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.5652 dividend. This is a boost from BW LPG's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.5%. BW LPG's payout ratio is 142.50%.

About BW LPG

BW LPG NYSE: BWLP is a pure‐play owner and operator of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers. The company's core business centers on the maritime transportation of LPG, predominantly propane and butane, under both time‐ and voyage‐charter arrangements. Its fleet comprises pressurized and semi‐refrigerated vessels designed to meet the specific requirements of LPG producers, traders and end‐users around the world.

Headquartered in Singapore, BW LPG serves a global customer base, with commercial offices in key energy hubs including Houston, London, Dubai and Tokyo.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.