Riverview Trust Co Buys Shares of 1,049 Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,049 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in Ashland by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 4,725 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 122.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 64,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,411,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 21,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,773,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ASH. StockNews.com cut Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ashland from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Ashland from $101.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ashland from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.44.

Ashland Stock Down 2.5 %

Ashland stock opened at $95.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.26, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.47. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.82 and a 12 month high of $102.50. The company has a current ratio of 3.15, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.13. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 9.09%. The company had revenue of $575.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $574.64 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. Ashland’s revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 1st were given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. This is an increase from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. Ashland’s payout ratio is presently 42.97%.

About Ashland

Ashland Inc provides additives and specialty ingredients in the North and Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; and nutraceutical solutions comprising products for weight management, joint comfort, stomach and intestinal health, sports nutrition, and general wellness, as well as custom formulation, toll processing, and particle engineering solutions.