Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Shares Sold by Newport Trust Company LLC

Newport Trust Company LLC lowered its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 2.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 560,197 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 15,274 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC owned about 1.12% of Ashland worth $52,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ASH. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Ashland by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,632 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ashland during the fourth quarter valued at $340,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Ashland by 143.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 274.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 495,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,797,000 after acquiring an additional 363,328 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank lifted its position in Ashland by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 4,725 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ashland Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ASH opened at $88.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.88. Ashland Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.82 and a 1-year high of $102.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $89.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 7.01%. The business had revenue of $544.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.08 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ashland presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.50.

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.