Marshall Wace LLP Sells 2,955 Shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Marshall Wace LLP decreased its position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,230 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 2,955 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.15% of Ardmore Shipping worth $756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 301.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 58,431 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,058,000 after purchasing an additional 43,862 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,482 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 31,355 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 6,553 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Ardmore Shipping by 261.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 111,752 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 32,850 shares during the period. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.67.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE ASC opened at $9.71 on Friday. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 1-year low of $8.32 and a 1-year high of $23.44. The company has a current ratio of 4.24, a quick ratio of 3.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $9.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.35. The company has a market capitalization of $392.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.16.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.25 earnings per share (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 analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is 10.46%.

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.