Aristotle Capital Boston LLC Sells 273,004 Shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Aristotle Capital Boston LLC reduced its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC - Free Report) by 15.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,547,353 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 273,004 shares during the quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC owned 3.70% of Ardmore Shipping worth $18,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASC. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 261.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 63.3% during the fourth 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. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 302.4% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,519 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,890 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 228.1% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 3,422 shares during the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ASC. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. 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 company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.67.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of ASC traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $9.76. The stock had a trading volume of 785,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 710,491. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 1 year low of $8.32 and a 1 year high of $23.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.24 and a quick ratio of 3.86. The stock's 50 day moving average is $9.52 and its 200 day moving average is $11.17. The firm has a market cap of $394.84 million, a PE ratio of 3.19 and a beta of -0.02.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 32.78%. The business had revenue of $74.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $43.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Ardmore Shipping's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.46%.

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.