Citigroup Inc. Boosts Position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 465.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 42,287 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 34,802 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $3,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ASH. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ashland during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 193.1% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 610.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Ashland by 133.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 650 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the period. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ashland in the 2nd quarter valued at about $71,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE ASH opened at $78.16 on Thursday. Ashland Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.04 and a 1-year high of $102.50. The company has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $83.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.21.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.02). Ashland had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 7.95%. The company had revenue of $522.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ASH. UBS Group reduced 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Ashland from $92.00 to $83.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.29.

Insider Transactions at Ashland

In other news, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,585.70. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Ashland 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.