Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ardmore Shipping currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.00.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

Shares of Ardmore Shipping stock opened at $13.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $555.35 million, a PE ratio of 15.32 and a beta of -0.16. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.48. The company has a quick ratio of 3.98, a current ratio of 4.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Ardmore Shipping has a 12-month low of $8.32 and a 12-month high of $16.91.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The shipping company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 7.02%. The company had revenue of $82.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.00 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,428,218 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $25,715,000 after purchasing an additional 20,009 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 6.5% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,749,153 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $20,762,000 after purchasing an additional 106,497 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 1.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,298,294 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $15,411,000 after purchasing an additional 16,524 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 3.4% in the second quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,242,297 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $11,926,000 after purchasing an additional 40,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ticino Wealth bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the fourth quarter worth $7,647,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Ardmore Shipping Company Profile

Ardmore Shipping Corporation is a Bermuda-based provider of seaborne transportation services for refined petroleum products. The company owns and operates a modern fleet of product tankers, including medium-range (MR), long-range 2 (LR2) and Aframax vessels. Ardmore Shipping focuses on the ocean carriage of clean and dirty petroleum products under time charters, bareboat charters and spot voyages, serving a diverse customer base that includes major oil companies and trading houses.

Since its founding in 2005, Ardmore Shipping has grown its fleet through newbuilding contracts, second-hand acquisitions and fleet renewals, aiming to maintain a high quality, fuel-efficient profile.