AXQ Capital LP Buys Shares of 10,125 Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new position in Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,125 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $123,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 99,389 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,799,000 after buying an additional 1,302 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Ardmore Shipping by 3.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 44,482 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $769,000 after buying an additional 1,304 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Ardmore Shipping by 261.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,530 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in Ardmore Shipping during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Up 1.4 %

ASC opened at $10.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $410.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.23. 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’s fifty day moving average is $10.78 and its 200 day moving average is $12.99. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a fifty-two week low of $8.83 and a fifty-two week high of $23.44.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The shipping company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.08). Ardmore Shipping had a return on equity of 20.48% and a net margin of 32.78%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ASC shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Ardmore Shipping from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ardmore Shipping currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.00.

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.