Ardmore Shipping Co. (ASC) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 28th

Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.08 per share by the shipping company on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th.

Ardmore Shipping has a payout ratio of 24.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ardmore Shipping to earn $1.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.2%.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

Shares of ASC stock opened at $9.81 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.24 and a quick ratio of 3.86. Ardmore Shipping has a one year low of $9.79 and a one year high of $23.44. The company has a market capitalization of $410.45 million, a P/E ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.25.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 32.78% and a return on equity of 20.48%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.00.

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.