Townsquare Capital LLC Takes $443,000 Position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 36,481 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $443,000. Townsquare Capital LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Ardmore Shipping at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASC. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 261.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 302.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,519 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,893 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 228.1% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 3,422 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,010 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 1,252 shares during the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Ardmore Shipping from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.67.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

ASC stock traded up $0.24 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $9.25. The company had a trading volume of 405,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 708,041. The business has a 50 day moving average of $9.61 and a 200 day moving average of $11.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $374.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.02 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $8.32 and a fifty-two week high of $23.44.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last issued 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, research analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Ardmore Shipping's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.