Barclays PLC Increases Position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Barclays PLC boosted its position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 301.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,431 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,862 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.14% of Ardmore Shipping worth $1,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ASC. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the second quarter worth $29,000. Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 2,906.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 2,906 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 829.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,558 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 3,175 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the 2nd quarter valued at about $72,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of ASC stock opened at $13.09 on Wednesday. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a fifty-two week low of $10.86 and a fifty-two week high of $23.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $11.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.16. The stock has a market cap of $547.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 3.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.50%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.17%.

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.