Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Takes $3.98 Million Position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 176,459 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,976,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned approximately 0.42% of Ardmore Shipping at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter valued at $277,000. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the 2nd quarter worth about $315,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 47.2% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,400,981 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $31,564,000 after buying an additional 449,200 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the second quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter worth about $316,000. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

ASC stock opened at $17.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.25. The stock has a market cap of $729.66 million, a PE ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 0.35. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a one year low of $11.78 and a one year high of $23.44. 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 announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 36.31% and a return on equity of 24.26%. The company had revenue of $121.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.46%. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is 58.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ASC. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective 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 target 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 downgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research 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.