Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Short Interest Update

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 2,140,681 shares, a growth of 16.4% from the February 12th total of 1,839,604 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 925,468 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 5.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Approximately 5.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 925,468 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ardmore Shipping currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,241 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,219 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 4.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,701 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 23,047 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 1,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 361,658 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,830,000 after buying an additional 1,580 shares during the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

Ardmore Shipping stock opened at $14.45 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $588.43 million, a PE ratio of 16.23 and a beta of -0.16. The company has a current ratio of 4.33, a quick ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Ardmore Shipping has a 12-month low of $8.32 and a 12-month high of $16.91.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The shipping company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $82.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.00 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 7.02%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is currently 40.45%.

About Ardmore Shipping

Ardmore Shipping Corporation is a Bermuda-based provider of seaborne transportation services for refined petroleum products. The company owns and operates a modern fleet of product tankers, including medium-range (MR), long-range 2 (LR2) and Aframax vessels. Ardmore Shipping focuses on the ocean carriage of clean and dirty petroleum products under time charters, bareboat charters and spot voyages, serving a diverse customer base that includes major oil companies and trading houses.

Since its founding in 2005, Ardmore Shipping has grown its fleet through newbuilding contracts, second-hand acquisitions and fleet renewals, aiming to maintain a high quality, fuel-efficient profile.