Vanguard Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,969,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 112,389 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.92% of Ashland worth $419,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Commerce Bank raised its stake in Ashland by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 4,725 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in Ashland by 0.3% during 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 buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in Ashland by 1.0% during 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 buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Ashland by 143.9% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 378 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Ashland by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 3,107 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASH has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ashland from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ashland from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ashland from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Ashland in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.44.

Ashland Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Ashland stock opened at $94.96 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 3.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $97.81 and a 200 day moving average of $92.48. Ashland Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.82 and a fifty-two week high of $102.50.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.13. Ashland had a net margin of 9.09% and a return on equity of 5.57%. The business had revenue of $575.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $574.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This is an increase from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is 42.97%.

Ashland Company Profile

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.