Short Interest in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Expands By 18.8%

Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,470,000 shares, an increase of 18.8% from the January 15th total of 2,080,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 901,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASC. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 58.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 131,073 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,372,000 after acquiring an additional 48,598 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,164,000. Foundry Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 217.5% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter worth approximately $799,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 40.2% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,467 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 7,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

ASC stock opened at $10.43 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 3.57 and a quick ratio of 3.26. The company’s 50-day moving average is $11.87 and its 200-day moving average is $14.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $436.27 million, a PE ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.25. Ardmore Shipping has a 1 year low of $10.22 and a 1 year high of $23.44.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.08). Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 23.63% and a net margin of 36.22%. Equities research analysts expect that Ardmore Shipping will post 2.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is currently 20.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ardmore Shipping has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.00.

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.