Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) Short Interest Up 17.1% in April

Ardmore Shipping Corporation (NYSE:ASC) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,203,773 shares, a growth of 17.1% from the March 31st total of 1,881,877 shares. Approximately 5.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 500,834 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ardmore Shipping

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in Ardmore Shipping during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping in the third quarter valued at about $59,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 1,689.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,444 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 7,972 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 536.3% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,737 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364 shares during the period. 62.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ASC. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Evercore set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Ardmore Shipping in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:ASC traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $18.14. 544,854 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 544,229. The company has a quick ratio of 3.98, a current ratio of 4.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Ardmore Shipping has a fifty-two week low of $9.18 and a fifty-two week high of $18.17. The firm has a market cap of $738.66 million, a PE ratio of 20.38 and a beta of -0.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.31.

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The shipping company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. Ardmore Shipping had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 7.02%. The company had revenue of $82.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.00 million.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.45%.

About Ardmore Shipping

Ardmore Shipping Corporation is a Bermuda-based provider of seaborne transportation services for refined petroleum products. The company owns and operates a modern fleet of product tankers, including medium-range (MR), long-range 2 (LR2) and Aframax vessels. Ardmore Shipping focuses on the ocean carriage of clean and dirty petroleum products under time charters, bareboat charters and spot voyages, serving a diverse customer base that includes major oil companies and trading houses.

Since its founding in 2005, Ardmore Shipping has grown its fleet through newbuilding contracts, second-hand acquisitions and fleet renewals, aiming to maintain a high quality, fuel-efficient profile.