Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Earns “Buy” Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by Jefferies Financial Group in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $17.00 target price on the shipping company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 63.04% from the company’s current price.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ardmore Shipping currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASC opened at $10.43 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.57, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $436.29 million, a P/E ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.25. Ardmore Shipping has a 52 week low of $10.22 and a 52 week high of $23.44.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASC. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,530 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA bought a new stake in Ardmore Shipping during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 302.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,519 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

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.