Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Acquires 13,577 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 2.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 581,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 13,577 shares during the period. Ashland makes up approximately 1.2% of Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $54,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in 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 during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,314,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $218,686,000 after acquiring an additional 198,913 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position 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 worth $175,864,000 after acquiring an additional 149,483 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in 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 worth $63,492,000 after acquiring an additional 14,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Ashland by 1.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 547,909 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,772,000 after purchasing an additional 6,598 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Ashland Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ASH opened at $85.22 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.83. Ashland Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.82 and a 12-month high of $102.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.60, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.88.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 7.01%. The firm had revenue of $544.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. Ashland’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.