Deutsche Bank AG Boosts Position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 158,614 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 10,634 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.38% of Ardmore Shipping worth $1,927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ASC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,738,153 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $33,268,000 after buying an additional 24,030 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,491,507 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $18,122,000 after acquiring an additional 101,229 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,413,554 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $17,175,000 after buying an additional 279,403 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,309,826 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $15,914,000 after buying an additional 63,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. lifted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,204,828 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $14,639,000 after buying an additional 168,731 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of ASC opened at $9.78 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $397.10 million, a PE ratio of 3.19 and a beta of -0.02. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 1 year low of $8.32 and a 1 year high of $23.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 3.86 and a current ratio of 4.24.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $74.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.04 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 32.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a yield of 2.05%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ASC. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ardmore Shipping presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.67.

Ardmore Shipping 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.