Martingale Asset Management L P Decreases Stock Position in Ardmore Shipping Corporation $ASC

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P reduced its holdings in Ardmore Shipping Corporation by 29.4%, selling 22,695 shares during the first quarter.
• Ardmore Shipping recently announced a dividend increase to $0.07 per share, which will be paid on September 12th, reflecting a dividend yield of 263.0%.
• The stock has received favorable analyst ratings, including upgrades to strong-buy by multiple firms, with an average target price of $12.67.

Martingale Asset Management L P cut its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC - Free Report) by 29.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,594 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 22,695 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P owned approximately 0.13% of Ardmore Shipping worth $534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 545.0% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 3,683 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 3,112 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,890 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,332 shares during the period. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 0.8%

ASC traded down $0.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $11.61. 305,981 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 518,809. The company has a current ratio of 3.88, a quick ratio of 3.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a 1 year low of $8.32 and a 1 year high of $19.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.99. The firm has a market cap of $471.40 million, a P/E ratio of 11.27 and a beta of 0.11.

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

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Ardmore Shipping's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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