Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Trading Down 5.4% - Here's Why

Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) shares traded down 5.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $15.29 and last traded at $15.35. 383,420 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 619,830 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.22.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on ASC shares. 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 note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Fearnley Fonds upgraded Ardmore Shipping to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com lowered Ardmore Shipping from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Ardmore Shipping from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ardmore Shipping presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.33.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 6.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $613.47 million, a PE ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $17.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.39. 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 (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $121.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.51 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 36.31% and a return on equity of 24.26%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Ardmore Shipping's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.24%.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 696,697 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $9,816,000 after purchasing an additional 134,233 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the 1st quarter worth approximately $54,000. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 1st quarter worth approximately $166,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the first quarter valued at approximately $376,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 83.9% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 20,440 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 9,325 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company's stock.

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.