Royce & Associates LP Sells 14,930 Shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Royce & Associates LP decreased its position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 668,750 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 14,930 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned about 1.60% of Ardmore Shipping worth $12,104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 51.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 541,103 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $8,885,000 after acquiring an additional 182,650 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 495,593 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $8,138,000 after buying an additional 64,805 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 1st quarter worth approximately $459,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,149,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 82.7% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 241,455 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,440,000 after buying an additional 109,312 shares during the period. 62.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

Shares of ASC opened at $11.77 on Friday. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a fifty-two week low of $11.59 and a fifty-two week high of $23.44. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.03. The stock has a market cap of $492.46 million, a PE ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 3.57.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ASC. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.00.

Ardmore Shipping 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.