Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) Price Target to $17.00

Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) had its price target lowered by Jefferies Financial Group from $20.00 to $17.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the shipping company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ASC. StockNews.com downgraded Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Ardmore Shipping to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.00.

Ardmore Shipping Trading Down 1.5 %

ASC opened at $11.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $492.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 3.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Ardmore Shipping has a twelve month low of $11.59 and a twelve month high of $23.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.05.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASC. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 47.2% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,400,981 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $31,564,000 after buying an additional 449,200 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 27.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,124,835 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $25,343,000 after acquiring an additional 241,748 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Ardmore Shipping by 0.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 217.5% in the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 565,300 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,232,000 after buying an additional 387,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ardmore Shipping by 51.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 541,103 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $8,885,000 after purchasing an additional 182,650 shares in the last quarter. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.