Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,460,000 shares, a growth of 21.2% from the August 15th total of 2,030,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 615,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Ardmore Shipping from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Up 0.3 %

Ardmore Shipping stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $17.44. The stock had a trading volume of 288,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 652,755. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 3.18. Ardmore Shipping has a twelve month low of $11.78 and a twelve month high of $23.44. The firm has a market cap of $729.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 0.35.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $121.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.51 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 24.26% and a net margin of 36.31%. Ardmore Shipping’s revenue was up 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.24%.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 47.2% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,400,981 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $31,564,000 after buying an additional 449,200 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 27.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,124,835 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $25,343,000 after acquiring an additional 241,748 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 51.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 541,103 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $8,885,000 after purchasing an additional 182,650 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter valued at about $4,012,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 135.1% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 308,200 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,936,000 after purchasing an additional 177,130 shares during the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.