Wells Fargo & Company MN Has $8.66 Million Position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC - Free Report) by 34.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 712,587 shares of the shipping company's stock after acquiring an additional 183,393 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 1.70% of Ardmore Shipping worth $8,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASC. State Street Corp lifted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 782,368 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $14,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,922 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 301.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 58,431 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 43,862 shares during the period. Invst LLC boosted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 38,688 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 5,146 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Ardmore Shipping by 10.1% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 22,204 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 2,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 3.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,482 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304 shares during the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ASC. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Ardmore Shipping from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ardmore Shipping currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.67.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

Shares of ASC traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $9.14. The stock had a trading volume of 65,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 720,949. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $8.32 and a 12 month high of $23.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $369.76 million, a PE ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.16. The company's 50-day moving average is $9.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.71.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.25 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%. Research analysts expect that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Ardmore Shipping's payout ratio is 10.46%.

Ardmore Shipping 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.