Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 9,517 Shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 405,741 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,517 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.95% of Ardmore Shipping worth $5,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ASC. Simplicity Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 15,476 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 15,476 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 35,214 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 3,108 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Thursday, February 15th.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE ASC opened at $16.61 on Friday. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 12 month low of $11.59 and a 12 month high of $17.05. The stock has a market cap of $674.86 million, a P/E ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $16.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.99. The company has a current ratio of 3.75, a quick ratio of 3.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The shipping company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 29.50%. The firm had revenue of $98.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 25.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.77%.

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.