Empowered Funds LLC Boosts Stake in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 8.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 183,069 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 13,825 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Ardmore Shipping were worth $3,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 696,697 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,816,000 after buying an additional 134,233 shares during the last quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 4th quarter worth approximately $423,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 606,898 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $8,551,000 after buying an additional 205,245 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 87.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,382 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 2,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,758,657 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $38,870,000 after buying an additional 56,984 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ASC. StockNews.com raised Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Ardmore Shipping from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

NYSE ASC opened at $19.61 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $21.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $796.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.51 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.79. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 1-year low of $11.70 and a 1-year high of $23.44.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The shipping company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $106.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.46 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 29.15%. The company’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.32%. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.51%.

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.