Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on ASC. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of ASC opened at $17.69 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 3.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.19. The stock has a market cap of $718.69 million, a P/E ratio of 6.78 and a beta of 0.35. Ardmore Shipping has a one year low of $11.78 and a one year high of $23.44.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 36.31% and a return on equity of 24.26%. The company had revenue of $121.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. Ardmore Shipping’s quarterly revenue was up 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping will post 3.46 EPS for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is 58.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the second quarter worth $29,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 2nd quarter worth about $454,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the 2nd quarter valued at about $205,000. Invst LLC boosted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 33,542 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $749,000 after buying an additional 13,376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 18.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 106,926 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,409,000 after buying an additional 16,633 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

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.