Royce & Associates LP Sells 14,930 Shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its holdings in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 668,750 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 14,930 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Ardmore Shipping were worth $12,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ASC. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 72.7% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,110 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in Ardmore Shipping by 322.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 1,249 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 22,248 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $501,000 after buying an additional 1,212 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 1.5 %

Ardmore Shipping stock opened at $11.77 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.57, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 12-month low of $11.59 and a 12-month high of $23.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $492.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $16.04 and a 200 day moving average of $19.03.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.12%. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is 42.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $24.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.00.

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.