Hsbc Holdings PLC Takes $665,000 Position in Ardmore Shipping Corporation $ASC

Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 47,083 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $665,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter worth about $38,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the second quarter worth approximately $49,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 1,689.0% during 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. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 536.3% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,737 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

Shares of ASC stock opened at $18.09 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $16.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.44. The company has a quick ratio of 4.84, a current ratio of 5.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market cap of $736.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.98 and a beta of 0.05. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a 12 month low of $10.31 and a 12 month high of $20.02.

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

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 17.5%. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is presently 122.01%.

Ardmore Shipping Profile

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.