Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $16.91 and last traded at $16.1610, with a volume of 257453 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $16.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ardmore Shipping has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 1.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 3.98, a current ratio of 4.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $667.18 million, a PE ratio of 18.46 and a beta of -0.16. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $12.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.27.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The shipping company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $82.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.00 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 7.02%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping Corporation will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is currently 40.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ASC. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,241 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 1,689.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,444 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 7,972 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

About Ardmore Shipping

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.