Deutsche Bank AG Has $853,000 Stake in Ardmore Shipping Corporation $ASC

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG reduced its stake in Ardmore Shipping Corporation by 45.1% in Q1, owning 87,138 shares worth approximately $853,000 after selling 71,476 shares.
• Ardmore Shipping announced a dividend increase to $0.07 per share, up from $0.05, with a yield of 263.0%, to be paid on September 12th.
• Several research firms have issued positive ratings for Ardmore Shipping, with two analysts rating it as "Strong Buy" and a consensus target price of $12.67.

Deutsche Bank AG lowered its position in Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC - Free Report) by 45.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,138 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 71,476 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 0.21% of Ardmore Shipping worth $853,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 1,647.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 670,993 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $8,153,000 after purchasing an additional 632,592 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the first quarter valued at $4,683,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,413,554 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $17,175,000 after purchasing an additional 279,403 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the fourth quarter valued at $2,631,000. Finally, Numerai GP LLC lifted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 241.4% in the fourth quarter. Numerai GP LLC now owns 256,128 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $3,112,000 after acquiring an additional 181,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company's stock.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:ASC traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $11.61. 305,981 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 542,958. The company's 50 day moving average is $10.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.00. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a twelve month low of $8.32 and a twelve month high of $19.01. The company has a quick ratio of 3.56, a current ratio of 3.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $471.40 million, a P/E ratio of 11.27 and a beta of 0.05.

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

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This is an increase from Ardmore Shipping's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Ardmore Shipping's dividend payout ratio is 19.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ASC. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Ardmore Shipping from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Fearnley Fonds raised Ardmore Shipping from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $13.00 price objective on Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ardmore Shipping presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.67.

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.