Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Trims Stake in Ardmore Shipping Corporation $ASC

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital cut its Ardmore Shipping stake by 40.4% in the first quarter, selling 335,759 shares and retaining 495,816 shares worth approximately $7.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 62.22% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with three Buy ratings and one Hold rating, resulting in a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $17.00 price target.
• Ardmore Shipping reported quarterly earnings of $1.18 per share, exceeding estimates, and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.79 per share—an annualized yield of approximately 18.2%. Shares opened at $17.35.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership reduced its stake in Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC - Free Report) by 40.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 495,816 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 335,759 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 1.22% of Ardmore Shipping worth $7,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ticino Wealth bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the fourth quarter worth about $7,647,000. Marnell Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,877,000. Moore Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,177,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 848.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 324,295 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $3,849,000 after acquiring an additional 290,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,947,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore set a $19.00 price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardmore Shipping

In other news, President Bart B. Kelleher sold 8,000 shares of Ardmore Shipping stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.07, for a total value of $152,560.00. Following the sale, the president directly owned 60,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,144,943.73. The trade was a 11.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Kirsi Tikka sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.93, for a total value of $227,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 35,471 shares in the company, valued at $671,466.03. This represents a 25.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 40,000 shares of company stock worth $766,048.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of ASC opened at $17.35 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $16.30 and its 200 day moving average is $15.59. The company has a current ratio of 5.45, a quick ratio of 4.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a 12-month low of $10.17 and a 12-month high of $20.02. The company has a market capitalization of $706.79 million, a PE ratio of 6.70 and a beta of 0.04.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The shipping company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $116.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.30 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 29.67%.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 18.2%. Ardmore Shipping's dividend payout ratio is 60.23%.

About Ardmore Shipping

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.

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