New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 11,214 Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 11,214 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $136,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 1.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 99,389 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,302 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 3.0% during 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 261.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 302.4% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,519 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Ardmore Shipping stock opened at $9.66 on Thursday. 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 twelve month low of $8.83 and a twelve month high of $23.44. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $10.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.66. The company has a market cap of $390.80 million, a PE ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.16.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted 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 return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 32.78%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Ardmore Shipping’s payout ratio is currently 10.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.