18,609 Shares in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Purchased by Custom Index Systems LLC

Custom Index Systems LLC acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 18,609 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,758,657 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $38,870,000 after acquiring an additional 56,984 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 696,697 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,816,000 after purchasing an additional 134,233 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 51.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 541,103 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $8,885,000 after purchasing an additional 182,650 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 495,593 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $8,138,000 after purchasing an additional 64,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 135.1% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 308,200 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,936,000 after purchasing an additional 177,130 shares during the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on ASC shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ASC opened at $17.22 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $699.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.60 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.11. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 52 week low of $11.78 and a 52 week high of $23.44.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $121.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.51 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 24.26% and a net margin of 36.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is 58.24%.

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.