Barclays PLC Buys 43,862 Shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 301.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,431 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,862 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.14% of Ardmore Shipping worth $1,058,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ASC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 12.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 131,120 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,954,000 after buying an additional 14,147 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 8.2% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 24,802 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 1,877 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter worth about $47,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 2.5% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 110,808 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,496,000 after buying an additional 2,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LMG Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 4.6% in the second quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 73,591 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,658,000 after buying an additional 3,254 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ASC opened at $12.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $12.36 and a 200 day moving average of $16.88. The company has a current ratio of 3.57, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $502.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.31. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 12-month low of $10.86 and a 12-month high of $23.44.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.00%. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is currently 20.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASC has been the subject of several research reports. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Ardmore Shipping to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.00.

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.