Ameriprise Financial Inc. Acquires 632,592 Shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC - Free Report) by 1,647.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 670,993 shares of the shipping company's stock after purchasing an additional 632,592 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 1.60% of Ardmore Shipping worth $8,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 76.3% during the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 41,602 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 18,000 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 345,744 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $4,201,000 after purchasing an additional 17,201 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 37.4% during 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. Nebula Research & Development LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 20,139 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 2,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,854 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 2,259 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Fearnley Fonds upgraded Ardmore Shipping from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Ardmore Shipping from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.67.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of ASC stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $9.91. The company had a trading volume of 494,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 685,589. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 12 month low of $8.32 and a 12 month high of $23.19. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.71. The company has a market cap of $402.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.24 and a beta of -0.02.

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

Ardmore Shipping Dividend Announcement

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

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.