Denali Advisors LLC Takes Position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 696,697 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,816,000 after purchasing an additional 134,233 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 51.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 541,103 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $8,885,000 after acquiring an additional 182,650 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 495,593 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $8,138,000 after acquiring an additional 64,805 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the 1st quarter valued at $714,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the first quarter worth $459,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

ASC stock opened at $17.69 on Wednesday. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 1-year low of $11.78 and a 1-year high of $23.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $19.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.19. The company has a market capitalization of $718.69 million, a P/E ratio of 6.78 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 3.18.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.05. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 36.31% and a return on equity of 24.26%. The business had revenue of $121.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.59%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Ardmore Shipping Company Profile

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.