Short Interest in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Decreases By 15.9%

Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,850,000 shares, a drop of 15.9% from the February 28th total of 2,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 749,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 4.6% of the company's stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 261.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,530 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 302.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,519 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on ASC. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $18.00.

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Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of Ardmore Shipping stock traded down $0.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $8.72. 1,697,120 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 704,403. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $10.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $352.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.16. Ardmore Shipping has a 1-year low of $8.54 and a 1-year high of $23.44.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.25 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Ardmore Shipping's dividend 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.