Sanctuary Advisors LLC Invests $454,000 in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 20,163 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $454,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 696,697 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,816,000 after buying an additional 134,233 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 51.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 541,103 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $8,885,000 after purchasing an additional 182,650 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 15.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 495,593 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $8,138,000 after purchasing an additional 64,805 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Ardmore Shipping during the first quarter valued at about $714,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in Ardmore Shipping during the first quarter valued at about $459,000. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ASC opened at $16.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a current ratio of 3.50. The company has a market cap of $677.66 million, a PE ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.40. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a fifty-two week low of $12.69 and a fifty-two week high of $23.44.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period last year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 payout ratio is 58.24%.

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.