Dorian LPG (NYSE:LPG) Shares Down 4.7% – Here’s Why

Dorian LPG Ltd. (NYSE:LPG) shares dropped 4.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $29.27 and last traded at $29.74. Approximately 376,063 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 705,268 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.21.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on LPG shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Dorian LPG from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Zacks Research downgraded Dorian LPG from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Dorian LPG from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.00.

Dorian LPG Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $30.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 3.32, a quick ratio of 3.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Dorian LPG (NYSE:LPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.34). Dorian LPG had a net margin of 15.15% and a return on equity of 5.24%. The business had revenue of $84.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Dorian LPG Ltd. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Dorian LPG Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.0%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dorian LPG news, COO Alexander C. Hadjipateras sold 5,000 shares of Dorian LPG stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.38, for a total transaction of $161,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 89,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,896,067.20. The trade was a 5.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 13.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPG. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Dorian LPG in the second quarter valued at about $165,210,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Dorian LPG by 9.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,597,563 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $38,949,000 after acquiring an additional 136,723 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Dorian LPG by 3.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,112,333 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $27,121,000 after acquiring an additional 40,859 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Dorian LPG by 3,728.9% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 997,470 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $22,283,000 after acquiring an additional 971,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Dorian LPG by 10.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 580,771 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $12,974,000 after acquiring an additional 56,432 shares during the last quarter. 62.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Dorian LPG

Dorian LPG Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the transportation of liquefied petroleum gas through its LPG tankers worldwide. It owns and operates twenty-five very large gas carriers. The company was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.