BW LPG (NYSE:BWLP) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

BW LPG Limited (NYSE:BWLP) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $21.35 and last traded at $21.2750, with a volume of 23152 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $21.06.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded BW LPG from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded BW LPG from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Dnb Carnegie lowered BW LPG from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BW LPG in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BW LPG currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

BW LPG Trading Up 1.1%

The company has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $17.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

BW LPG (NYSE:BWLP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.09. BW LPG had a return on equity of 12.61% and a net margin of 6.76%.The business had revenue of $732.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $217.18 million.

BW LPG Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.5652 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.6%. This is an increase from BW LPG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. BW LPG’s dividend payout ratio is 142.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BWLP. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BW LPG by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,257,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,704,000 after buying an additional 579,987 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in BW LPG in the 1st quarter valued at $9,646,000. Fearnley Asset Management AS purchased a new position in BW LPG in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,388,000. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in BW LPG in the 4th quarter worth about $5,027,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its holdings in BW LPG by 115,776.1% in the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 203,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,549,000 after acquiring an additional 203,766 shares during the last quarter.

BW LPG Company Profile

BW LPG (NYSE: BWLP) is a pure‐play owner and operator of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers. The company’s core business centers on the maritime transportation of LPG, predominantly propane and butane, under both time‐ and voyage‐charter arrangements. Its fleet comprises pressurized and semi‐refrigerated vessels designed to meet the specific requirements of LPG producers, traders and end‐users around the world.

Headquartered in Singapore, BW LPG serves a global customer base, with commercial offices in key energy hubs including Houston, London, Dubai and Tokyo.