Wellington Management Group LLP Increases Stake in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC - Free Report) by 24.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,413,554 shares of the shipping company's stock after acquiring an additional 279,403 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 3.49% of Ardmore Shipping worth $17,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 302.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,519 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,890 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASC traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.72. 211,083 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 679,283. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 1 year low of $8.32 and a 1 year high of $23.16. The company has a market cap of $394.87 million, a P/E ratio of 3.18 and a beta of -0.02. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.63.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 net margin of 32.78% and a return on equity of 20.48%. The business had revenue of $74.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $43.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Announces Dividend

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

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.