Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,290,000 shares, an increase of 8.0% from the December 15th total of 2,120,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 829,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter worth about $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 261.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,530 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 2,906.0% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 2,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the second quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE ASC traded down $0.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $12.25. The company had a trading volume of 678,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 639,120. The company’s fifty day moving average is $11.95 and its 200-day moving average is $16.00. The company has a market cap of $512.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 3.57, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Ardmore Shipping has a one year low of $10.86 and a one year high of $23.44.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.88%. 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.