Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC - Free Report) by 43.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 294,408 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 223,781 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.70% of Ardmore Shipping worth $3,577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 782,368 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $14,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,922 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Ardmore Shipping by 301.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 58,431 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $1,058,000 after buying an additional 43,862 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC raised its position in Ardmore Shipping by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 38,688 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $700,000 after buying an additional 5,146 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 22,204 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 2,041 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,482 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $769,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ASC shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Ardmore Shipping from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ardmore Shipping currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.67.

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

Shares of Ardmore Shipping stock traded up $0.19 on Friday, hitting $9.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 136,783 shares, compared to its average volume of 707,094. The company has a market capitalization of $386.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.16. 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 quick ratio of 3.86 and a current ratio of 4.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $9.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.63.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 32.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Ardmore Shipping's payout ratio is 10.46%.

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.