Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Short Interest Update

Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of 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 daily volume of 829,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ASC shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.00.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASC. Private Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,204,828 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $14,639,000 after buying an additional 168,731 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Ardmore Shipping by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 782,368 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $14,161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,922 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 217.5% in the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 565,300 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,232,000 after acquiring an additional 387,240 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Ardmore Shipping by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 218,529 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,655,000 after acquiring an additional 10,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $2,372,000 after purchasing an additional 48,598 shares during the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ASC opened at $11.91 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $11.85 and a 200-day moving average of $15.33. The company has a current ratio of 3.57, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $498.31 million, a P/E ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.25. Ardmore Shipping has a twelve month low of $10.86 and a twelve month high of $23.44.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is 20.17%.

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.