Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 43.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 294,408 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 223,781 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Ardmore Shipping were worth $3,577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Ardmore Shipping by 255.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 465,777 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,659,000 after buying an additional 334,704 shares during the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 16.3% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 830,420 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,090,000 after purchasing an additional 161,670 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,491,507 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $18,122,000 after purchasing an additional 101,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in Ardmore Shipping by 406.6% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 97,836 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 78,524 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Up 4.1 %

ASC stock opened at $9.22 on Monday. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $8.32 and a 52-week high of $23.44. The company’s 50-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 P/E ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.16.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 32.78% and a return on equity of 20.48%. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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. Investors 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 currently 10.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.