Intech Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 16,376 Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 16,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,547,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ASH. Commerce Bank raised its position in Ashland by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 4,725 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in Ashland by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,295 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $681,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Ashland by 122.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its holdings in Ashland by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in Ashland by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 21,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,773,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Ashland Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ASH opened at $87.56 on Tuesday. Ashland Inc. has a twelve month low of $70.82 and a twelve month high of $102.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.95.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $544.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.08 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 7.01%. The company’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Ashland’s payout ratio is 42.97%.

Ashland 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.