Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Invests $147,000 in Ardmore Shipping Corporation $ASC

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,045 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $147,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ASC. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in Ardmore Shipping by 545.0% in the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 3,683 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 3,112 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Quarry LP raised its position in Ardmore Shipping by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,890 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,332 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Ardmore Shipping by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,010 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252 shares during the period. 62.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE:ASC opened at $10.65 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $432.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 0.05. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a one year low of $8.32 and a one year high of $20.17. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 3.56 and a current ratio of 3.88.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The shipping company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $72.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.92 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 14.48%. The firm’s revenue was down 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping Corporation will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a yield of 205.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is presently 19.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ASC shares. Evercore ISI set a $13.00 target price on Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds upgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.67.

About Ardmore Shipping

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.