Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $1 Million Position in Ardmore Shipping Corporation $ASC

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) by 15.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 102,510 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 18,587 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Ardmore Shipping worth $1,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 545.0% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 3,683 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 3,112 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. TrueMark Investments LLC bought a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the first quarter valued at approximately $129,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $142,000. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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. Evercore ISI set a $13.00 price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $12.67.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

ASC opened at $11.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $471.40 million, a P/E ratio of 11.27 and a beta of 0.11. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a 52-week low of $8.32 and a 52-week high of $19.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 3.56 and a current ratio of 3.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $10.53 and its 200-day moving average is $10.00.

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

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This is an increase from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.18%.

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.