Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Short Interest Up 8.0% in December

Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,290,000 shares, an increase of 8.0% from the December 15th total of 2,120,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 829,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

NYSE:ASC opened at $12.25 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $11.95 and its 200-day moving average is $15.96. Ardmore Shipping has a 52-week low of $10.86 and a 52-week high of $23.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 3.57. The company has a market cap of $512.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.28.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.88%. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is currently 20.17%.

Institutional Trading of Ardmore Shipping

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 99,389 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,302 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 3.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,482 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $769,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 261.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA bought a new stake in Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.00.

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.