Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Trading Down 3.4% – Time to Sell?

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC)’s share price traded down 3.4% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $12.61 and last traded at $12.6550. 71,400 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 614,451 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ASC. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.67.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 1.9%

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $12.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $522.26 million, a PE ratio of 16.48 and a beta of 0.01. The company has a quick ratio of 4.08, a current ratio of 4.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The shipping company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $81.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.38 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 11.50% and a return on equity of 6.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping Corporation will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASC. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 1st quarter worth about $4,683,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping during the first quarter valued at approximately $147,000. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 51,174 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $501,000 after buying an additional 9,446 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 525,404 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,144,000 after acquiring an additional 9,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,572,868 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $15,398,000 after acquiring an additional 81,361 shares in the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ardmore Shipping Company Profile

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.