Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in Ardmore Shipping Corporation $ASC

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 543,549 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,615,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 1.33% of Ardmore Shipping as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ASC. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,878,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,452,462 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $37,399,000 after buying an additional 24,244 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 18.1% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,736,632 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $26,484,000 after buying an additional 266,275 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 1.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,298,294 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $15,411,000 after buying an additional 16,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 7.0% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 496,757 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $4,769,000 after acquiring an additional 32,347 shares during the period. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ASC. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 5.9%

ASC opened at $16.92 on Thursday. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a 12 month low of $10.31 and a 12 month high of $20.02. 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 cap of $689.17 million, a P/E ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 0.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $16.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.28.

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

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is an increase from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 18.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 122.01%.

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.