Boston Partners Reduces Stake in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Boston Partners reduced its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,818 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 1,630 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned about 0.21% of Ardmore Shipping worth $1,055,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 26.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 31,355 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 6,553 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 58.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 131,073 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,372,000 after buying an additional 48,598 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 3rd quarter worth $259,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 99,389 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the 3rd quarter valued at about $427,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ardmore Shipping presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 4.1 %

ASC stock opened at $10.02 on Friday. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a twelve month low of $8.83 and a twelve month high of $23.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $405.16 million, a PE ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a quick ratio of 3.86, a current ratio of 4.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.07.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.08). Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 32.78% and a return on equity of 20.48%. On average, equities analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.46%.

Ardmore Shipping Company Profile

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.