WealthTrust Axiom LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

WealthTrust Axiom LLC reduced its holdings in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 108,301 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 1,975 shares during the period. WealthTrust Axiom LLC owned about 0.25% of Ardmore Shipping worth $1,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ASC. Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the 3rd quarter valued at $161,000. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 39.9% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 32,106 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 9,157 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter valued at about $141,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter valued at about $580,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 7.9% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 50,400 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 3,675 shares during the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of ASC traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.84. The stock had a trading volume of 264,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 624,640. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 3.75 and a quick ratio of 3.38. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 52-week low of $11.59 and a 52-week high of $17.17. The business’s fifty day moving average is $16.22 and its 200 day moving average is $15.08. The firm has a market cap of $684.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.23 and a beta of 0.38.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The shipping company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 29.50% and a return on equity of 22.76%. The firm had revenue of $98.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. Ardmore Shipping’s quarterly revenue was down 25.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.99%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Ardmore Shipping’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th.

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.