1832 Asset Management L.P. Acquires 14,938 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 671,948 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,938 shares during the quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $63,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commerce Bank grew its stake in Ashland by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 4,725 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,295 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $681,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 122.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 21,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,773,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ASH. UBS Group cut 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 cut their price target on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target 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. StockNews.com downgraded Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.50.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of ASH opened at $87.32 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.01. Ashland Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.82 and a 52-week high of $102.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.08 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Ashland’s payout ratio is currently 42.97%.

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.