LSV Asset Management Sells 14,200 Shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

LSV Asset Management reduced its stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 32.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,300 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 14,200 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned about 0.07% of Ardmore Shipping worth $356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,010 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 1,252 shares in the last quarter. Aristides Capital LLC bought a new position in Ardmore Shipping in the fourth quarter valued at about $228,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Ardmore Shipping by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 460,825 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,599,000 after purchasing an additional 44,964 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 516,071 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,270,000 after purchasing an additional 70,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC lifted its position in Ardmore Shipping by 47.8% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 53,542 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 17,307 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Ardmore Shipping Price Performance

ASC opened at $8.72 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.02. 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 stock has a market cap of $352.57 million, a P/E ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.16. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 12 month low of $8.32 and a 12 month 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 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Ardmore Shipping Co. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.46%.

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.