Pacer Advisors Inc. Acquires New Shares in Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased 478,394 shares of Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) in Q1, totaling approximately $4.68 million, and now holds about 1.18% of the company.
• Recent analyst ratings for Ardmore Shipping show a shift, with Fearnley Fonds upgrading it to a "strong buy," while Evercore ISI lowered its target price from $14.00 to $13.00.
• Ardmore Shipping reported a quarterly EPS of $0.14, missing estimates by $0.01, with a revenue of $74 million, significantly higher than the $43.04 million expected.

Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 478,394 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $4,683,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned approximately 1.18% of Ardmore Shipping at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ASC. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Ardmore Shipping by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,491,507 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $18,122,000 after buying an additional 101,229 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the 4th quarter worth $136,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 4th quarter worth $213,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,309,826 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $15,914,000 after purchasing an additional 63,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ASC. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Wednesday. Fearnley Fonds upgraded Ardmore Shipping from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $13.00 price target on Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $12.67.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

NYSE ASC traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $10.67. 372,608 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 657,398. The stock has a market capitalization of $433.42 million, a P/E ratio of 10.36 and a beta of 0.02. The company has a quick ratio of 3.36, a current ratio of 3.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a 1 year low of $8.32 and a 1 year high of $20.21. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $10.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.13.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The shipping company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.04. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 8.47% and a net margin of 14.48%. The business had revenue of $72.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. Ardmore Shipping's revenue for the quarter was down 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ardmore Shipping Corporation will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a yield of 205.0%. Ardmore Shipping's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.42%.

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.