Royce & Associates LP Increases Position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 24.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 830,420 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 161,670 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Ardmore Shipping were worth $10,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ASC. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 58.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 131,073 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,372,000 after purchasing an additional 48,598 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ardmore Shipping during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,164,000. Foundry Partners LLC increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 217.5% during the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 565,300 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,232,000 after purchasing an additional 387,240 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,467 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 7,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 301.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 58,431 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,058,000 after purchasing an additional 43,862 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ASC. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ardmore Shipping currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

ASC stock opened at $10.10 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $408.56 million, a PE ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a current ratio of 4.24, a quick ratio of 3.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $11.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.26. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 12-month low of $8.83 and a 12-month high of $23.44.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 32.78%. As a group, research analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio 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.