Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 35,736 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,480,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ASH. Pathstone Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Ashland during the 3rd quarter valued at about $232,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ashland by 4.8% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in Ashland by 38.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 11,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $901,000 after acquiring an additional 3,058 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Ashland by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,279 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ashland during the 3rd quarter valued at $518,000. 93.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ashland Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of ASH stock opened at $96.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 3.15 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The company has a market cap of $4.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.60, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.92. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.82 and a 1 year high of $102.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $97.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.04.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $575.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $574.64 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 9.09%. Ashland’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 15th. Investors of record on Saturday, June 1st were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. This is a positive change from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ASH. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ashland from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ashland from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ashland from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Ashland in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.44.

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.