Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) has received a consensus rating of 'Moderate Buy' from six ratings firms. The stock has an average 12-month price target of $13.6667. Recent analyst ratings include a mix of hold, buy, and strong buy. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company's stock. Ardmore Shipping recently announced an increased quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share. The company reported Q3 earnings of $0.31 per share, beating estimates, with revenue of $81.25 million.

Shares of Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.6667.

ASC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Zacks Research cut shares of Ardmore Shipping from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Wednesday, November 5th.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASC. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 288.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,310 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 4,684 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company's stock.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE ASC opened at $12.23 on Friday. Ardmore Shipping has a 12-month low of $8.32 and a 12-month high of $13.85. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $12.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.19. The company has a quick ratio of 4.08, a current ratio of 4.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $496.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68 and a beta of 0.01.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The shipping company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $81.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.38 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 11.50% and a return on equity of 6.69%. The company's revenue was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Ardmore Shipping's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.90%.

About Ardmore Shipping

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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.

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