Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Stock Holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,773,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,977 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 5.53% of Ashland worth $262,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Ashland by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,509 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Ashland by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,632 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC acquired a new position in Ashland in the fourth quarter valued at about $340,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ashland by 143.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ashland in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $899,000. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Ashland Stock Up 0.2 %

ASH stock opened at $87.19 on Wednesday. Ashland Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.82 and a fifty-two week high of $102.50. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $89.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.88.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $544.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.08 million. Ashland had a net margin of 7.01% and a return on equity of 5.98%. The company’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Ashland’s payout ratio is currently 42.97%.

Ashland Company 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.