Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 12.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Ashland were worth $259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Ashland by 2.1% in the second 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 during the period. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. VELA Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 50,251 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,748,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its position in Ashland by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,677 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Ashland by 193.1% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.50.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of ASH opened at $78.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $85.75 and a 200-day moving average of $91.38. Ashland Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.08 and a 52 week high of $102.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.51, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.02). Ashland had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The business had revenue of $522.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.07 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 5.1 EPS for the current year.

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.