Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on ASC. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore set a $19.00 target price on Ardmore Shipping in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE ASC opened at $17.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 5.45 and a quick ratio of 4.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $706.79 million, a PE ratio of 6.70 and a beta of 0.03. Ardmore Shipping has a 1 year low of $10.17 and a 1 year high of $20.02. The business’s 50-day moving average is $16.30 and its 200 day moving average is $15.62.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The shipping company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.07. The company 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%.

Insider Activity at Ardmore Shipping

In related news, Director Curtis B. Mcwilliams sold 16,277 shares of the business’s 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 owned 60,673 shares in the company, valued at $1,175,842.74. The trade was a 21.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kirsi Tikka sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was 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 approximately $671,466.03. The trade was a 25.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 40,000 shares of company stock worth $766,048 over the last 90 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 31.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 77,769 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $761,000 after purchasing an additional 18,500 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 4.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,701 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 7.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 234,987 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,301,000 after purchasing an additional 16,458 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 23.1% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 311,162 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,987,000 after purchasing an additional 58,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 1,689.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,444 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 7,972 shares in the last quarter. 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.