Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Short Interest Up 47.9% in May

Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,440,000 shares, an increase of 47.9% from the May 15th total of 1,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 653,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com raised Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

Shares of ASC stock traded down $0.71 on Friday, reaching $20.79. 872,495 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 745,725. The company has a market cap of $844.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.97 and a beta of 0.43. Ardmore Shipping has a 1 year low of $11.59 and a 1 year high of $23.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $19.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The shipping company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $106.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.46 million. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 29.15%. The firm’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.51%.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 87.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,382 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,042 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the first quarter valued at approximately $108,000. MJP Associates Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the fourth quarter worth $141,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the fourth quarter worth $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

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.