Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Director Curtis Mcwilliams Sells 16,277 Shares

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Director Curtis Mcwilliams sold 16,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.38, for a total value of $315,448.26. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 60,673 shares in the company, valued at $1,175,842.74. This trade represents a 21.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

ASC opened at $18.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 4.43 and a current ratio of 4.87. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a 52-week low of $9.18 and a 52-week high of $20.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $767.07 million, a PE ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $16.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.89.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted its 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 return on equity of 9.63% and a net margin of 18.00%.The firm had revenue of $87.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.08 million.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ASC shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore set a $19.00 price target on Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ardmore Shipping has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 31.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 77,769 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $761,000 after buying an additional 18,500 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 4.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,701 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 7.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 234,987 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,301,000 after buying an additional 16,458 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 23.1% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 311,162 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,987,000 after buying an additional 58,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 1,689.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,444 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 7,972 shares during the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.