Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $9.85 Million Stock Holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 32.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 113,242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 53,718 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Ashland worth $9,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 4.2% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 657,010 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $63,973,000 after buying an additional 26,245 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ashland during the second quarter valued at approximately $713,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 33.0% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 429,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,727,000 after purchasing an additional 106,417 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP lifted its position in Ashland by 242.5% in the first quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 13,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 9,700 shares during the period. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ashland during the second quarter worth $2,442,000. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of ASH stock opened at $77.04 on Tuesday. Ashland Inc. has a 52 week low of $76.33 and a 52 week high of $102.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $84.82 and its 200-day moving average is $90.73.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.02). Ashland had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 7.95%. The company had revenue of $522.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is 48.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ashland

In related news, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total transaction of $67,617.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $224,585.70. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ASH. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group cut their target price on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com cut Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.57.

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.