Stifel Nicolaus Downgrades Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) to Hold

Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $17.00 price objective on the shipping company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $24.00.

ASC has been the subject of several other research reports. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Ardmore Shipping to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ardmore Shipping has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.33.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 6.9 %

Shares of ASC opened at $15.10 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Ardmore Shipping has a 12 month low of $12.69 and a 12 month high of $23.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $17.87 and its 200-day moving average is $19.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $613.47 million, a PE ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 0.35.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $121.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.51 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 24.26% and a net margin of 36.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping will post 3.46 EPS for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.07%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 47.2% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,400,981 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $31,564,000 after buying an additional 449,200 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 27.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,124,835 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $25,343,000 after acquiring an additional 241,748 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 51.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 541,103 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $8,885,000 after acquiring an additional 182,650 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ardmore Shipping during the 2nd quarter worth $4,012,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 135.1% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 308,200 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,936,000 after purchasing an additional 177,130 shares in the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.