Strs Ohio Invests $371,000 in Ardmore Shipping Corporation $ASC

Key Points

• Strs Ohio invested approximately $371,000 in Ardmore Shipping Corporation during the first quarter, acquiring 37,900 shares and resulting in ownership of 0.09% of the company.
• Ardmore Shipping recently announced an increase in its dividend from $0.05 to $0.07 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $0.28 and a yield of 2.2%.
• The company reported earnings of $0.22 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, but its revenue declined by 40.6% year-over-year, amounting to $72.05 million.

Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 37,900 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $371,000. Strs Ohio owned approximately 0.09% of Ardmore Shipping as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 545.0% during the first 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 last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the first quarter worth $129,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of ASC opened at $12.52 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.88 and a quick ratio of 3.56. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a one year low of $8.32 and a one year high of $18.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $508.64 million, a P/E ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $11.24 and a 200 day moving average of $10.27.

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

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 2.2%. Ardmore Shipping's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASC has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Ardmore Shipping from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI set a $13.00 target price on Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $14.00 price objective 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 issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ardmore Shipping currently has a consensus 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ASC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.