Short Interest in Dorian LPG Ltd. (NYSE:LPG) Declines By 50.8%

Dorian LPG Ltd. (NYSE:LPG) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,190,000 shares, a drop of 50.8% from the March 15th total of 2,420,000 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 832,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Insider Activity at Dorian LPG

In other news, CEO John C. Hadjipateras bought 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.75 per share, with a total value of $221,875.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,824,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,382,851.50. The trade was a 0.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 13.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LPG. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Dorian LPG by 61.1% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,128 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dorian LPG in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Dorian LPG by 155.3% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,035 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Dorian LPG by 84.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,075 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dorian LPG by 146.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,194 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303 shares during the period. 62.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on LPG. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Dorian LPG in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Pareto Securities raised Dorian LPG to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Dorian LPG Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LPG traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.07. 564,302 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 715,237. Dorian LPG has a twelve month low of $16.66 and a twelve month high of $51.66. The stock has a market cap of $859.08 million, a P/E ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.97, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $21.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.09.

Dorian LPG (NYSE:LPG) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The shipping company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.08. Dorian LPG had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 38.51%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Dorian LPG will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Dorian LPG Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. Dorian LPG’s payout ratio is currently 25.45%.

About Dorian LPG

Dorian LPG Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the transportation of liquefied petroleum gas through its LPG tankers worldwide. It owns and operates twenty-five very large gas carriers. The company was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.