Townsquare Capital LLC Acquires New Holdings in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 36,481 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $443,000. Townsquare Capital LLC owned 0.09% of Ardmore Shipping as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ASC. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 255.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 465,777 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,659,000 after acquiring an additional 334,704 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,413,554 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $17,175,000 after purchasing an additional 279,403 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 712,587 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $8,658,000 after purchasing an additional 183,393 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,204,828 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $14,639,000 after purchasing an additional 168,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 830,420 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,090,000 after buying an additional 161,670 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASC has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ardmore Shipping presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of ASC stock opened at $9.22 on Monday. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 12 month low of $8.32 and a 12 month high of $23.44. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.79. The firm has a market cap of $372.79 million, a PE ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.16. The company has a quick ratio of 3.86, a current ratio of 4.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.08). Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 32.78%. Equities research analysts expect that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is 10.46%.

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.