Ardmore Shipping Corporation $ASC Shares Purchased by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Key Points

• Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in Ardmore Shipping Corporation by 15.6%, purchasing an additional 21,505 shares in the second quarter, bringing its total ownership to 158,989 shares.
• Ardmore Shipping has recently seen a positive shift in analyst ratings, with Zacks Research upgrading the company from a "hold" to a "strong-buy" rating, reflecting growing investor confidence.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.05 to $0.07 per share, demonstrating its commitment to returning value to shareholders amidst fluctuating revenue trends.

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC - Free Report) by 15.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 158,989 shares of the shipping company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,505 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.39% of Ardmore Shipping worth $1,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 17,263 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 35,458 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 39,202 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Ardmore Shipping from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $13.00 target price on Ardmore Shipping in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $12.67.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of Ardmore Shipping stock opened at $12.52 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $11.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.88 and a quick ratio of 3.56. The company has a market capitalization of $508.64 million, a P/E ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.11. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a 1-year low of $8.32 and a 1-year high of $18.79.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The shipping company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.04. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 14.48%.The firm had revenue of $72.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping Corporation will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Ardmore Shipping's payout ratio is 27.18%.

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.

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