Curtis Mcwilliams Sells 848 Shares of Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Stock

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Director Curtis Mcwilliams sold 848 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.01, for a total transaction of $16,120.48. Following the sale, the director directly owned 76,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,462,819.50. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Up 4.3%

ASC stock opened at $19.65 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $800.30 million, a P/E ratio of 14.77 and a beta of 0.03. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a 52 week low of $9.18 and a 52 week high of $20.02. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.94. The company has a current ratio of 4.87, a quick ratio of 4.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 9.63%. The company had revenue of $87.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.08 million.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.9%. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is currently 27.07%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 93.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 139,639 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,129,000 after acquiring an additional 67,473 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 10.2% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 43.3% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 184,844 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,819,000 after purchasing an additional 55,888 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 18.1% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,736,632 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $26,484,000 after purchasing an additional 266,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 11.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 305,706 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $4,662,000 after purchasing an additional 32,450 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore set a $19.00 price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Company Profile

Ardmore Shipping Corporation is a Bermuda-based provider of seaborne transportation services for refined petroleum products. The company owns and operates a modern fleet of product tankers, including medium-range (MR), long-range 2 (LR2) and Aframax vessels. Ardmore Shipping focuses on the ocean carriage of clean and dirty petroleum products under time charters, bareboat charters and spot voyages, serving a diverse customer base that includes major oil companies and trading houses.

Since its founding in 2005, Ardmore Shipping has grown its fleet through newbuilding contracts, second-hand acquisitions and fleet renewals, aiming to maintain a high quality, fuel-efficient profile.