Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Share Price Crosses Above 50-Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Shares moved above their 50-day moving average, trading at about $19.00 versus the average of $18.89.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Moderate Buy with a $22 price target, though Wall Street Zen and Weiss Ratings recently downgraded their assessments.
• Ardmore slightly beat quarterly EPS estimates and reported revenue above consensus, but cut its quarterly dividend to $0.27 from $0.79; the new dividend equates to a 5.7% yield.

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) shares crossed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $18.89 and traded as high as $19.03. Ardmore Shipping shares last traded at $18.9950, with a volume of 885,440 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ASC. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ardmore Shipping from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ardmore Shipping from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ardmore Shipping presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 5.26 and a quick ratio of 4.77. The company has a market cap of $773.67 million, a PE ratio of 7.06 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.82.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The shipping company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $87.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.67 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 30.11%.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 27th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. This is a negative change from Ardmore Shipping's previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 27th. Ardmore Shipping's dividend payout ratio is 117.47%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 51.0% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,749 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping during the 2nd quarter valued at $49,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 49.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,309 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 464.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,320 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 5,200 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 680 shares during the period. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ardmore Shipping

Ardmore Shipping Corporation is an international shipping company that owns and operates product and chemical tankers. Its vessels transport refined petroleum products and chemicals for customers in global seaborne markets. The company's fleet includes medium-range and smaller tankers designed to carry cargoes such as clean petroleum products and liquid chemicals. Ardmore provides ocean transportation services to energy companies, commodity traders and other shipping customers. Founded in 2010, Ardmore is headquartered in Bermuda and serves international shipping routes.

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