Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The shipping company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 29.50% and a return on equity of 22.76%. The business had revenue of $106.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.46 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

ASC traded up $0.09 during trading on Thursday, hitting $20.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,289,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 640,265. The firm has a market capitalization of $830.01 million, a P/E ratio of 7.45 and a beta of 0.36. Ardmore Shipping has a twelve month low of $11.59 and a twelve month high of $20.52. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 3.38 and a current ratio of 3.75.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.07%. This is an increase from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is 30.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on ASC shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Ardmore Shipping from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

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.