Invesco Ltd. Cuts Stake in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Invesco Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC - Free Report) by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 78,977 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 29,860 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.19% of Ardmore Shipping worth $960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 255.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 465,777 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $5,659,000 after acquiring an additional 334,704 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,413,554 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $17,175,000 after purchasing an additional 279,403 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 712,587 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $8,658,000 after buying an additional 183,393 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 168,731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 830,420 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $10,090,000 after buying an additional 161,670 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Ardmore Shipping from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $13.67.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Ardmore Shipping stock opened at $9.71 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.86, a current ratio of 4.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market cap of $392.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.16. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a twelve month low of $8.32 and a twelve month high of $23.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.35.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.08). Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 32.78% and a return on equity of 20.48%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. Ardmore Shipping's payout ratio is 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.

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