Short Interest in Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Grows By 16.4%

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 2,140,681 shares, an increase 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. Currently, 5.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Currently, 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.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 14.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,241 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,219 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 24,701 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 6.1% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 0.4% during the 4th 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 0.9%

ASC opened at $14.15 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 3.98 and a current ratio of 4.33. The company has a market cap of $576.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89 and a beta of -0.16. Ardmore Shipping has a one year low of $8.32 and a one year high of $16.91. The business’s fifty day moving average is $13.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.53.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The shipping company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 7.02% and a net margin of 13.22%.The business had revenue of $82.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.00 million. Analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ASC. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.00.

Ardmore Shipping Company Profile

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.