American Century Companies Inc. Has $25.34 Million Stock Holdings in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 27.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,124,835 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 241,748 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 2.77% of Ardmore Shipping worth $25,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ASC. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 72.7% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,110 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 322.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 1,249 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 22,248 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $501,000 after buying an additional 1,212 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 15.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,934 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $196,000 after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares during the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ASC opened at $17.60 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 3.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $715.04 million, a P/E ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 0.35. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 12 month low of $11.78 and a 12 month high of $23.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.23 and a 200-day moving average of $19.18.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $121.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.51 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 36.31% and a return on equity of 24.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 3.46 EPS for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.64%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ASC. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Ardmore Shipping from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

About Ardmore Shipping

Ardmore Shipping Corporation engages in the seaborne transportation of petroleum products and chemicals worldwide. The company's fleet consists of 22 owned vessels including 21 Eco-design and 1 Eco-mod vessel, and four chartered-in vessels. It serves oil majors, oil companies, oil and chemical traders, chemical companies, and pooling service providers.