Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Stock Holdings Raised by Larson Financial Group LLC

Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 228.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,922 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,422 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Ardmore Shipping were worth $60,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Private Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $14,639,000 after buying an additional 168,731 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 0.4% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 217.5% in the 3rd 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. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position 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. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 218,529 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,655,000 after purchasing an additional 10,654 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ardmore Shipping presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE ASC opened at $9.72 on Thursday. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 12-month low of $8.83 and a 12-month high of $23.44. The company has a market cap of $406.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a current ratio of 4.24, a quick ratio of 3.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.49.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 32.78% and a return on equity of 20.48%. Equities research analysts expect that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is 10.46%.

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.