Sei Investments Co. Acquires 32,450 Shares of Ardmore Shipping Corporation $ASC

Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) by 11.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 305,706 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,450 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Ardmore Shipping were worth $4,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ASC. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 31.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 77,769 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $761,000 after buying an additional 18,500 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,701 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 234,987 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,301,000 after acquiring an additional 16,458 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 23.1% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 311,162 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,987,000 after acquiring an additional 58,330 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 1,689.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,444 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 7,972 shares during the period. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kirsi Tikka sold 12,000 shares of Ardmore Shipping stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.93, for a total transaction of $227,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 35,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $671,466.03. This trade represents a 25.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Curtis B. Mcwilliams sold 16,277 shares of Ardmore Shipping stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.38, for a total transaction of $315,448.26. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 60,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,842.74. This trade represents a 21.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,000 shares of company stock worth $613,488.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ASC. Evercore set a $19.00 price target on Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Ardmore Shipping from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ardmore Shipping has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

ASC stock opened at $16.47 on Thursday. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a 1 year low of $10.17 and a 1 year high of $20.02. The company has a market cap of $670.70 million, a P/E ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 0.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $16.21 and a 200 day moving average of $15.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 5.45 and a quick ratio of 4.84.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The shipping company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $116.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.30 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 29.67%.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 19.2%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.23%.

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.