Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Earns Buy Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed Ardmore Shipping's stock rating as a "Buy" with a price target of $14.00, indicating a potential upside of 28.50% from its previous close.
• Ardmore Shipping's stock experienced a 3.0% increase during midday trading, reaching $10.90, with a twelve-month trading range of $8.32 to $22.70.
• Institutional investors own 62.22% of Ardmore Shipping's shares, with notable recent investments from Ameriprise Financial and Wellington Management, indicating strong interest from large stakeholders.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $14.00 price target on the shipping company's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's target price suggests a potential upside of 31.21% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on ASC. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. 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 note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $12.67.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of ASC traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $10.67. The stock had a trading volume of 202,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 656,274. The company has a quick ratio of 3.36, a current ratio of 3.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Ardmore Shipping has a 52 week low of $8.32 and a 52 week high of $20.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $10.03 and a 200 day moving average of $10.13. The company has a market cap of $433.42 million, a P/E ratio of 10.36 and a beta of 0.02.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The shipping company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $72.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.92 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 8.47%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the 4th quarter valued at about $136,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the 4th quarter valued at about $213,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,309,826 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $15,914,000 after acquiring an additional 63,769 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,413,554 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $17,175,000 after acquiring an additional 279,403 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 570,381 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $6,930,000 after acquiring an additional 8,008 shares during the period. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.