Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Short Interest Down 8.0% in March

Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 984,300 shares, a drop of 8.0% from the March 15th total of 1,070,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 661,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASC. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 25,276 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 15,476 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the period. Simplicity Solutions LLC increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 15,476 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 4.8% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 16,712 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 772 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,375 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ASC traded up $0.13 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.92. 357,630 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 655,169. The company has a quick ratio of 3.38, a current ratio of 3.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.84. Ardmore Shipping has a 52-week low of $11.59 and a 52-week high of $17.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $646.83 million, a PE ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 0.38.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The shipping company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $98.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.26 million. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 29.50% and a return on equity of 22.76%. The firm’s revenue was down 25.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.28%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ASC shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th.

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.