Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Shares Bought by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC - Free Report) by 1,647.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 670,993 shares of the shipping company's stock after purchasing an additional 632,592 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 1.60% of Ardmore Shipping worth $8,153,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,738,153 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $33,268,000 after acquiring an additional 24,030 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,491,507 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $18,122,000 after acquiring an additional 101,229 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,413,554 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $17,175,000 after acquiring an additional 279,403 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,309,826 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $15,914,000 after acquiring an additional 63,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 1,204,828 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $14,639,000 after acquiring an additional 168,731 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company's stock.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Up 1.9%

ASC traded up $0.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $9.78. The stock had a trading volume of 415,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 686,355. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a twelve month low of $8.32 and a twelve month high of $23.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 3.86 and a current ratio of 4.24. The company has a market capitalization of $397.10 million, a PE ratio of 3.19 and a beta of -0.02.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The shipping company reported $0.14 EPS 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 company had revenue of $74.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.05%. Ardmore Shipping's payout ratio is currently 8.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ASC. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $13.67.

Ardmore Shipping Company 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.