Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Stake Decreased by RBF Capital LLC

RBF Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC - Free Report) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 901,880 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 40,000 shares during the quarter. RBF Capital LLC owned about 2.16% of Ardmore Shipping worth $10,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,413,554 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $17,175,000 after purchasing an additional 279,403 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Ardmore Shipping by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 712,587 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $8,658,000 after buying an additional 183,393 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 16.3% during the 4th 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 period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 24.2% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Ardmore Shipping from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three research 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $13.67.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ASC opened at $9.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $364.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.16. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 1-year low of $8.32 and a 1-year high of $23.44. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 3.86 and a current ratio of 4.24.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 32.78%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Ardmore Shipping's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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