Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Receives $13.67 Average Target Price from Brokerages

by · The Markets Daily

Shares of Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC – Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com 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 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.6667.

ASC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research cut shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Wednesday.

View Our Latest Report on Ardmore Shipping

Ardmore Shipping Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE:ASC opened at $10.83 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 4.46, a quick ratio of 4.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Ardmore Shipping has a twelve month low of $8.32 and a twelve month high of $13.85. The company has a market cap of $439.75 million, a PE ratio of 13.88 and a beta of -0.11. The company’s 50 day moving average is $12.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.41.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The shipping company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $81.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.38 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 11.50% and a return on equity of 6.69%. Ardmore Shipping’s quarterly revenue was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is an increase from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is 51.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 6.3% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 17,263 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the first quarter worth approximately $371,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the second quarter worth approximately $21,019,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 2nd quarter valued at $334,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 2nd quarter valued at $434,000. 62.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ardmore Shipping

(Get Free Report)

Ardmore Shipping Corporation is a Bermuda-based provider of seaborne transportation services for refined petroleum products. The company owns and operates a modern fleet of product tankers, including medium-range (MR), long-range 2 (LR2) and Aframax vessels. Ardmore Shipping focuses on the ocean carriage of clean and dirty petroleum products under time charters, bareboat charters and spot voyages, serving a diverse customer base that includes major oil companies and trading houses.

Since its founding in 2005, Ardmore Shipping has grown its fleet through newbuilding contracts, second-hand acquisitions and fleet renewals, aiming to maintain a high quality, fuel-efficient profile.

Featured Articles