Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Shares Sold by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp reduced its stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,772 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 304 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.08% of Ashland worth $3,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Ashland Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of ASH stock opened at $83.79 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $86.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Ashland Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.82 and a 1-year high of $102.50.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. Ashland had a net margin of 7.01% and a return on equity of 5.98%. The business had revenue of $544.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.08 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. 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.