In an alert issued after the close analyst Jonathan Chappell said the decision stems from a “reallocation of resources”.

Despite the suspension Chappell applauded StealthGas for reporting a fourth-quarter gain that was in-line with Wall Street’s consensus estimate.

He argued that this was an important development because the Athens-based operator fell short in six of the last seven quarters.

Chappell praised StealthGas, which trades under the ticker “GASS”, for implementing a $20m buy-back programme but fears management and the board will need to do more to narrow the gap between its share price and net asset value (NAV).

“We