18,800 Shares in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Bought by Aristides Capital LLC

Aristides Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 18,800 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 255.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 465,777 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,659,000 after purchasing an additional 334,704 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,467 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 7,010 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 301.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 58,431 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 43,862 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in Ardmore Shipping by 406.6% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 97,836 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 78,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 261.1% in the fourth 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of Ardmore Shipping stock opened at $8.72 on Monday. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 12 month low of $8.54 and a 12 month high of $23.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $10.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.50. The firm has a market cap of $352.57 million, a P/E ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.16. The company has a current ratio of 4.24, a quick ratio of 3.86 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 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, equities research analysts expect that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.46%.

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.