Squarepoint Ops LLC Invests $360,000 in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 15,961 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ASC. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 696,697 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $9,816,000 after buying an additional 134,233 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 51.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 541,103 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $8,885,000 after purchasing an additional 182,650 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 495,593 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $8,138,000 after buying an additional 64,805 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping during the 1st quarter worth approximately $714,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $459,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ASC. StockNews.com cut Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds raised Ardmore Shipping to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.67.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ASC opened at $17.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.37. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a twelve month low of $12.65 and a twelve month high of $23.44. The company has a current ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $712.39 million, a PE ratio of 6.72 and a beta of 0.35.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 24.26% and a net margin of 36.31%. The company had revenue of $121.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given 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 dividend yield of 8.67%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.24%.

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.