Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Trading Up 6.1% – Time to Buy?

Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)’s stock price traded up 6.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $13.50 and last traded at $13.32. 180,853 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 623,895 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ASC. Stifel Nicolaus cut Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $24.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Ardmore Shipping to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.00.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Up 6.2 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $558.17 million, a P/E ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 3.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is 20.17%.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter worth $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 261.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 2,906.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 2,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the 2nd quarter valued at $72,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.