Royce & Associates LP Has $8.78 Million Stock Position in Ardmore Shipping Corporation $ASC

Royce & Associates LP lowered its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) by 9.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 739,530 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 73,210 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned about 1.82% of Ardmore Shipping worth $8,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. CSM Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,527,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 6.5% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,749,153 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $20,762,000 after buying an additional 106,497 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 23.1% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 311,162 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,987,000 after purchasing an additional 58,330 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the third quarter worth about $607,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 2nd quarter valued at about $466,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE ASC opened at $16.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $667.18 million, a PE ratio of 18.46 and a beta of -0.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 4.33 and a quick ratio of 3.98. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a 1 year low of $8.32 and a 1 year high of $16.91.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The shipping company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 7.02%. The business had revenue of $82.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.00 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping Corporation will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ardmore Shipping presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.00.

About Ardmore Shipping

Ardmore Shipping Corporation is a Bermuda-based provider of seaborne transportation services for refined petroleum products. The company owns and operates a modern fleet of product tankers, including medium-range (MR), long-range 2 (LR2) and Aframax vessels. Ardmore Shipping focuses on the ocean carriage of clean and dirty petroleum products under time charters, bareboat charters and spot voyages, serving a diverse customer base that includes major oil companies and trading houses.

Since its founding in 2005, Ardmore Shipping has grown its fleet through newbuilding contracts, second-hand acquisitions and fleet renewals, aiming to maintain a high quality, fuel-efficient profile.