StealthGas Inc. (NASDAQ:GASS) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

StealthGas Inc. (NASDAQ:GASS) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 33,500 shares, a decrease of 13.4% from the January 31st total of 38,700 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 153,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of StealthGas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StealthGas

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in StealthGas during the 4th quarter valued at $333,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of StealthGas by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 52,348 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 12,777 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in StealthGas by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 335,200 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,894,000 after purchasing an additional 61,500 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in StealthGas in the 4th quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in StealthGas by 701.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 10,263 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 8,982 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.32% of the company’s stock.

StealthGas Price Performance

Shares of GASS stock opened at $5.54 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.92. The company has a market cap of $203.55 million, a P/E ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.77. StealthGas has a twelve month low of $4.82 and a twelve month high of $8.84. The company has a quick ratio of 2.59, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

StealthGas (NASDAQ:GASS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 21st. The shipping company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $40.25 million during the quarter. StealthGas had a return on equity of 11.36% and a net margin of 40.87%.

About StealthGas

StealthGas Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides seaborne transportation services to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) producers and users worldwide. The company's carriers carry various petroleum gas products in liquefied form, including propane, butane, butadiene, isopropane, propylene, and vinyl chloride monomer, as well as ammonia; refined petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and jet fuel; and edible oils and chemicals.