LSV Asset Management Makes New $618,000 Investment in Ardmore Shipping Corporation $ASC

Key Points

• LSV Asset Management opened a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the fourth quarter, buying 58,400 shares valued at about $618,000.
• Institutional interest in ASC remains notable, with hedge funds and other investors owning 62.22% of the company’s shares. Several firms recently added stakes, including large increases from Franklin Resources and American Century.
• Ardmore Shipping has also seen mixed signals from insiders and analysts: insiders sold shares recently, while analysts currently rate the stock Moderate Buy with an average target price of $17.00. The company also beat quarterly earnings expectations and sharply raised its dividend to $0.39 per share quarterly.

LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 58,400 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $618,000. LSV Asset Management owned about 0.14% of Ardmore Shipping as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASC. Ticino Wealth acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,647,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Ardmore Shipping by 848.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 324,295 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $3,849,000 after buying an additional 290,087 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Ardmore Shipping by 6.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,749,153 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $20,762,000 after buying an additional 106,497 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter worth approximately $1,170,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter worth approximately $864,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ASC. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ardmore Shipping

In other Ardmore Shipping news, Director Curtis B. Mcwilliams sold 16,277 shares of Ardmore Shipping stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.38, for a total transaction of $315,448.26. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 60,673 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,175,842.74. This trade represents a 21.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Bart B. Kelleher sold 8,000 shares of Ardmore Shipping stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.07, for a total transaction of $152,560.00. Following the sale, the president directly owned 60,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,144,943.73. This trade represents a 11.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 40,000 shares of company stock valued at $766,048 in the last quarter.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 3.7%

NYSE ASC opened at $17.75 on Thursday. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a twelve month low of $9.18 and a twelve month high of $20.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 4.43 and a current ratio of 4.87. The stock has a market cap of $722.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 0.03. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $16.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.16.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 9.63%. The firm had revenue of $87.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $58.08 million.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is an increase from Ardmore Shipping's previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.8%. Ardmore Shipping's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.07%.

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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