Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Sets New 52-Week High at $17.17

Shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $17.17 and last traded at $16.86, with a volume of 95435 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ASC. StockNews.com downgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Thursday, February 15th.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 1.2 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $16.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.08. The company has a quick ratio of 3.38, a current ratio of 3.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $682.99 million, a P/E ratio of 6.23 and a beta of 0.38.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The shipping company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $98.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.26 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 29.50%. Ardmore Shipping’s quarterly revenue was down 25.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.00%. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is 30.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASC. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 606,898 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $8,551,000 after purchasing an additional 205,245 shares during the period. Glenorchy Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,081,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 696,697 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,816,000 after buying an additional 134,233 shares in the last quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,171,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 289.8% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 78,319 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,019,000 after acquiring an additional 58,228 shares in the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.