Geode Capital Management LLC Sells 112,203 Shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Geode Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 562,373 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 112,203 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 1.34% of Ardmore Shipping worth $10,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 47.2% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,400,981 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $31,564,000 after buying an additional 449,200 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 27.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,124,835 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $25,343,000 after acquiring an additional 241,748 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 782,368 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $14,161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,922 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 217.5% during the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 565,300 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,232,000 after purchasing an additional 387,240 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 135.1% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 308,200 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,936,000 after purchasing an additional 177,130 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ASC shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Ardmore Shipping from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.00.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE ASC opened at $12.15 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $12.22 and its 200 day moving average is $16.79. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 3.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $508.38 million, a PE ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.31. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a twelve month low of $10.86 and a twelve month high of $23.44.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.17%.

Ardmore Shipping Company 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.