Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Shares Down 4.2% – Here’s What Happened

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) shares fell 4.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $15.14 and last traded at $15.23. 216,282 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 749,200 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ASC. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ardmore Shipping has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.00.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 0.6%

The company has a market cap of $616.04 million, a P/E ratio of 16.97 and a beta of -0.16. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $14.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 3.98 and a current ratio of 4.33.

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

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 14.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,241 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,219 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $193,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,701 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 23,047 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 1,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 361,658 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,830,000 after buying an additional 1,580 shares during the period. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ardmore Shipping Company Profile

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.