Bailard Inc. Makes New $239,000 Investment in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Bailard Inc. purchased a new stake in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 16,939 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Glenorchy Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the fourth quarter valued at $2,081,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 405,741 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,717,000 after purchasing an additional 9,517 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 15,476 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 15,476 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 35,214 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 3,108 shares in the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ASC opened at $17.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $691.07 million, a PE ratio of 6.23 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.08. The company has a current ratio of 3.75, a quick ratio of 3.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 12-month low of $11.59 and a 12-month high of $17.05.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The shipping company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 29.50% and a return on equity of 22.76%. The company had revenue of $98.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 25.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.94%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday.

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.