Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Acquires 10,712 Shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 15.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 78,902 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 10,712 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Ardmore Shipping were worth $1,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ASC. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 9.1% during the third quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 52,230 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 4,346 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 15.2% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 17,474 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 2,310 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the third quarter valued at approximately $868,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the second quarter valued at approximately $454,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ASC opened at $16.68 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $677.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.35. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 12-month low of $12.69 and a 12-month high of $23.44. The company has a current ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 24.26% and a net margin of 36.31%. The firm had revenue of $121.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Ardmore Shipping from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Fearnley Fonds upgraded Ardmore Shipping to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Ardmore Shipping from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.67.

Ardmore Shipping 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.