Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Buys 35,923 Shares of Ardmore Shipping Corporation $ASC

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) by 28.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 164,436 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,923 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Ardmore Shipping were worth $2,508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 31.2% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 77,769 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $761,000 after purchasing an additional 18,500 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,701 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 234,987 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,301,000 after buying an additional 16,458 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 311,162 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,987,000 after acquiring an additional 58,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 1,689.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,444 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 7,972 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

ASC opened at $15.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.95. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a 12-month low of $9.80 and a 12-month high of $20.02. The company has a market cap of $628.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 0.04. The company has a current ratio of 4.87, a quick ratio of 4.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $87.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.08 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 9.63% and a net margin of 18.00%.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.1%. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Bart B. Kelleher sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.07, for a total transaction of $152,560.00. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 60,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,144,943.73. This represents a 11.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Curtis B. Mcwilliams sold 16,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.38, for a total value of $315,448.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 60,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,842.74. This trade represents a 21.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 40,000 shares of company stock valued at $766,048.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore set a $19.00 target price on Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Company Profile

Ardmore Shipping Corporation is a Bermuda-based provider of seaborne transportation services for refined petroleum products. The company owns and operates a modern fleet of product tankers, including medium-range (MR), long-range 2 (LR2) and Aframax vessels. Ardmore Shipping focuses on the ocean carriage of clean and dirty petroleum products under time charters, bareboat charters and spot voyages, serving a diverse customer base that includes major oil companies and trading houses.

Since its founding in 2005, Ardmore Shipping has grown its fleet through newbuilding contracts, second-hand acquisitions and fleet renewals, aiming to maintain a high quality, fuel-efficient profile.