Bleakley Financial Group LLC Has $218,000 Holdings in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,476 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Ardmore Shipping were worth $218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clear Street Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 253.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,621 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 3,315 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 874.3% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 5,125 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 4,599 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,375 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $91,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ASC shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

NYSE ASC opened at $15.92 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.84. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 52-week low of $11.59 and a 52-week high of $17.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 3.38 and a current ratio of 3.75. The stock has a market cap of $646.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 0.38.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The shipping company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 29.50%. The business had revenue of $98.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. Ardmore Shipping’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.28%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.77%.

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.