ProShare Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 11,678 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 25,570 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,010 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 1,252 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,890 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 1,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 302.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,519 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,893 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Up 0.7%

ASC opened at $9.68 on Tuesday. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a one year low of $8.32 and a one year high of $23.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 3.86 and a current ratio of 4.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.04 million, a P/E ratio of 3.16 and a beta of -0.02. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.64.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 32.78%. The firm had revenue of $74.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is currently 8.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ASC shares. Fearnley Fonds raised Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.67.

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.