Royce & Associates LP Decreases Stock Position in Ardmore Shipping Corporation $ASC

Royce & Associates LP reduced its position in Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) by 24.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 555,530 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 184,000 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Ardmore Shipping were worth $5,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ASC. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter worth $38,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter worth $59,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 1,689.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,444 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 7,972 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 536.3% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,737 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 7,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter worth $105,000. 62.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ardmore Shipping

In other news, Director Curtis B. Mcwilliams sold 16,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.38, for a total value of $315,448.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 60,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,175,842.74. This trade represents a 21.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Bart B. Kelleher sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.07, for a total value of $152,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 60,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,144,943.73. The trade was a 11.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 40,000 shares of company stock valued at $766,048 over the last three months.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

Ardmore Shipping stock opened at $16.11 on Friday. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a one year low of $9.18 and a one year high of $20.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $16.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 4.87 and a quick ratio of 4.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $656.09 million, a P/E ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.03.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 9.63% and a net margin of 18.00%.The firm had revenue of $87.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.08 million.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This is an increase from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.7%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is 117.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore set a $19.00 target price on Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ardmore Shipping has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Company Profile

Ardmore Shipping Corporation is a Bermuda-based provider of seaborne transportation services for refined petroleum products. The company owns and operates a modern fleet of product tankers, including medium-range (MR), long-range 2 (LR2) and Aframax vessels. Ardmore Shipping focuses on the ocean carriage of clean and dirty petroleum products under time charters, bareboat charters and spot voyages, serving a diverse customer base that includes major oil companies and trading houses.

Since its founding in 2005, Ardmore Shipping has grown its fleet through newbuilding contracts, second-hand acquisitions and fleet renewals, aiming to maintain a high quality, fuel-efficient profile.