Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Invests $394,000 in Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 40,231 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $394,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned 0.10% of Ardmore Shipping at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 34,398 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 3,043 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 102,368 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,244,000 after acquiring an additional 3,034 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 121,097 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,471,000 after acquiring an additional 21,708 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 255.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 465,777 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $5,659,000 after acquiring an additional 334,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 228.1% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 3,422 shares in the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ASC. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ardmore Shipping currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $13.67.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Down 1.2%

Ardmore Shipping stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $10.28. The company had a trading volume of 464,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 676,108. The firm has a market capitalization of $417.57 million, a P/E ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 3.73 and a quick ratio of 3.36. The firm's fifty day moving average is $9.91 and its 200-day moving average is $10.37. Ardmore Shipping Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $8.32 and a fifty-two week high of $22.70.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 14.77% and a net margin of 26.78%. The business had revenue of $74.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping Corporation will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Announces Dividend

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

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.