Empowered Funds LLC Increases Position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 218,529 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,654 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.52% of Ardmore Shipping worth $2,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ASC. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 261.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 2,906.0% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 2,906 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 829.0% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,558 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 3,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC increased its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 166.7% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 5,600 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ASC. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ardmore Shipping presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

NYSE ASC opened at $10.75 on Friday. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 1 year low of $10.70 and a 1 year high of $23.44. The company has a market capitalization of $449.91 million, a PE ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $11.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 3.57 and a quick ratio of 3.26.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.08). Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 23.63% and a net margin of 36.22%. As a group, analysts expect that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current year.

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.