Wall Street Zen Upgrades Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) to Strong-Buy

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASC opened at $18.12 on Friday. Ardmore Shipping has a twelve month low of $10.31 and a twelve month high of $20.02. The firm has a market cap of $738.03 million, a PE ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 0.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 4.84 and a current ratio of 5.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $16.65 and a 200-day moving average of $16.50.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The shipping company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.07. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 29.67% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The business had revenue of $116.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.30 million.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASC. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 31.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 77,769 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $761,000 after purchasing an additional 18,500 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 16,458 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 311,162 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,987,000 after purchasing an additional 58,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 worth $81,000 after buying an additional 7,972 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

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.