Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 44,180 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 94.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,739 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 44,180 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ashland were worth $238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Equitable Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 6,431 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $559,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in Ashland by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,295 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $681,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its position in Ashland by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Ashland by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VELA Investment Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $4,748,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of Ashland stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total transaction of $67,617.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,585.70. This trade represents a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ashland Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Ashland stock opened at $77.04 on Tuesday. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.33 and a 1 year high of $102.50. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.33.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its 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). The company had revenue of $522.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $524.07 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 7.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ASH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.57.

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.