Wall Street Zen Upgrades Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) to “Buy”

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of ASC opened at $13.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $555.35 million, a P/E ratio of 15.32 and a beta of -0.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 3.98 and a current ratio of 4.33. Ardmore Shipping has a 52 week low of $8.32 and a 52 week high of $16.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.50.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The shipping company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 7.02%. The firm had revenue of $82.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.00 million. On average, analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASC. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 31.2% during the first 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 period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,701 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $242,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 234,987 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,301,000 after acquiring an additional 16,458 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the 2nd quarter valued at $434,000. Finally, Greenland Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the 2nd quarter valued at $144,000. 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.