Blue Trust Inc. Has $173,000 Position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 850.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,835 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,642 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $173,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,773,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $262,037,000 after purchasing an additional 86,977 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,314,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $218,686,000 after purchasing an additional 198,913 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,806,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $175,864,000 after purchasing an additional 149,483 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 671,948 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $63,492,000 after purchasing an additional 14,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 581,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $54,918,000 after purchasing an additional 13,577 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on ASH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group reduced their target price 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 reduced their price target on shares of Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.50.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASH opened at $83.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 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 current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $86.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.25.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $544.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.08 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 7.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current 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 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 yield of 1.93%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.