Navellier & Associates Inc. Buys New Position in Ardmore Shipping Corporation $ASC

Navellier & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 157,157 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,202,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ASC. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 4th quarter valued at about $618,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,033,000. Flat Footed LLC acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping during the second quarter valued at approximately $13,293,599. Marnell Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,877,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,615,000. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE ASC opened at $17.33 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $16.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.32. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a one year low of $10.31 and a one year high of $20.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $705.85 million, a PE ratio of 6.69 and a beta of 0.03. The company has a current ratio of 5.45, a quick ratio of 4.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The shipping company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.07. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 29.67% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The company had revenue of $116.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.30 million.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 18.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is 60.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered Ardmore Shipping from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.00.

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.