Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Shares Down 5.4% – Here’s What Happened

Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)’s stock price traded down 5.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $15.29 and last traded at $15.35. 383,420 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 619,830 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.22.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Ardmore Shipping to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $24.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.33.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 7.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 3.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $611.84 million, a P/E ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Ardmore Shipping Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.09%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. U S Global Investors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter valued at $139,000. nVerses Capital LLC increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 166.7% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 5,600 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 78,902 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,428,000 after buying an additional 10,712 shares during the period. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 52,230 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 4,346 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 17,474 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 2,310 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.