Fmr LLC Purchases 2,252 Shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC)

Fmr LLC lifted its position in shares of Ardmore Shipping Co. (NYSE:ASC) by 2.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 80,449 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 2,252 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Ardmore Shipping were worth $1,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 72.7% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,110 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the second quarter worth $29,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 1.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 99,389 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,302 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ardmore Shipping during the second quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Ardmore Shipping by 15.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,934 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $196,000 after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares during the period. 62.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Ardmore Shipping to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $17.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ardmore Shipping from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Ardmore Shipping from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Three equities research 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.00.

Ardmore Shipping Stock Performance

Shares of ASC stock opened at $11.35 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $474.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 3.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.71. Ardmore Shipping Co. has a 52 week low of $10.86 and a 52 week high of $23.44.

Ardmore Shipping Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Ardmore Shipping’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.17%.

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.