Short Interest in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Grows By 8.0%

Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) saw a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,290,000 shares, an increase of 8.0% from the December 31st total of 2,120,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 829,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASC. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 261.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 2,906.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 2,906 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 829.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,558 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 3,175 shares during the period. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Up 3.4 %

NYSE:ASC traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $12.07. 29,511 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 730,914. The company has a fifty day moving average of $11.85 and a 200 day moving average of $15.33. Ardmore Shipping has a 12 month low of $10.86 and a 12 month high of $23.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 3.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $505.01 million, a P/E ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.25.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.97%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ASC. Jefferies Financial Group reduced 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 note on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.