Empowered Funds LLC Raises Stock Position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 218,529 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 10,654 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Ardmore Shipping were worth $2,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,204,828 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $14,639,000 after buying an additional 168,731 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 782,368 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $14,161,000 after buying an additional 2,922 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 217.5% during the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 565,300 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,232,000 after purchasing an additional 387,240 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 58.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 131,073 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,372,000 after purchasing an additional 48,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 111,752 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 32,850 shares in the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ASC shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 6.8 %

Shares of NYSE ASC opened at $10.75 on Friday. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 1 year low of $10.70 and a 1 year high of $23.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $11.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.87. The firm has a market cap of $449.91 million, a P/E ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 3.57.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 23.63% and a net margin of 36.22%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current year.

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.