StealthGas Inc. (GASS) Downgraded by Zacks Investment Research to Hold

TIN news:  StealthGas Inc. logoZacks Investment Research cut shares of StealthGas Inc. (NASDAQ:GASS) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

According to Zacks, “StealthGas Inc is a provider of international seaborne transportation services to LPG producers and users. The Company’s vessels carry various petroleum and petrochemical gas products in liquefied form, including propane, butane, butadiene, isopropane, propylene and vinyl chloride monomer, which are all byproducts of the production of oil and natural gas. These products are transported in liquefied form in order to reduce their volume and to facilitate their handling. Transportation by sea represents a major element of gas transportation logistics. LPG products have a variety of both industrial and other uses, including transportation, fertilizer production, the manufacture of plastics, space heating, cooking, water heating and process heating. We serve industrial companies, as well as national and independent energy companies and energy traders. “

StealthGas (NASDAQ:GASS) traded down 0.29% during trading on Tuesday, reaching $3.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 26,821 shares. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $3.83 and a 200 day moving average of $3.68. StealthGas has a 52 week low of $2.65 and a 52 week high of $5.18. The stock’s market capitalization is $135.62 million.

StealthGas (NASDAQ:GASS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The shipping company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.06. The company earned $37.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.88 million. StealthGas had a negative return on equity of 0.43% and a negative net margin of 4.49%. Analysts expect that StealthGas will post $0.13 EPS for the current year.

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Towerview LLC increased its stake in shares of StealthGas by 13.6% in the third quarter. Towerview LLC now owns 136,329 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 16,329 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of StealthGas during the fourth quarter valued at $1,484,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of StealthGas by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,524 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 4,258 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in shares of StealthGas by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,850,056 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $6,253,000 after buying an additional 130,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of StealthGas by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,456,300 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $4,922,000 after buying an additional 21,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.99% of the company’s stock.