Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Shares Purchased by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 69.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,206 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 9,913 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Ardmore Shipping worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 255.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 465,777 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,659,000 after acquiring an additional 334,704 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,204,828 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $14,639,000 after purchasing an additional 168,731 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 830,420 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,090,000 after buying an additional 161,670 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 406.6% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 97,836 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after buying an additional 78,524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,164,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Ardmore Shipping stock opened at $10.08 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $10.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.92. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a fifty-two week low of $8.83 and a fifty-two week high of $23.44. The firm has a market cap of $407.83 million, a P/E ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a quick ratio of 3.86, a current ratio of 4.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.08). Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 32.78% and a return on equity of 20.48%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is currently 10.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ASC shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ardmore Shipping has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.00.

Ardmore Shipping 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.