Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Acquires 16,523 Shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 44.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,013 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,523 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd owned 0.13% of Ardmore Shipping worth $656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,204,828 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $14,639,000 after purchasing an additional 168,731 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 782,368 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $14,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,922 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 217.5% during the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 565,300 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,232,000 after purchasing an additional 387,240 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 218,529 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,655,000 after purchasing an additional 10,654 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 58.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 131,073 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,372,000 after purchasing an additional 48,598 shares during the period. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASC opened at $9.06 on Friday. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 1 year low of $9.01 and a 1 year high of $23.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.24 and a quick ratio of 3.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $378.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.07.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 32.78% and a return on equity of 20.48%. As a group, research analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ASC. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ardmore Shipping currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.00.

Ardmore Shipping Profile

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.