Short Interest in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Grows By 8.0%

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the second quarter worth $29,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 99,389 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,302 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,482 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $769,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 261.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Ardmore Shipping stock opened at $11.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $487.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.33. Ardmore Shipping has a 52-week low of $10.86 and a 52-week high of $23.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 3.57 and a quick ratio of 3.26.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is 20.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on ASC shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $17.00 in a report 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 for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.00.

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.