State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Lowers Position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 37.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,916 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 11,538 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Ashland were worth $1,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Commerce Bank raised its stake in Ashland by 2.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Ashland by 122.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its position in Ashland by 5.8% during the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in Ashland by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 21,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,773,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VELA Investment Management LLC increased its position in Ashland by 0.5% during the second quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 50,251 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,748,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ASH shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group cut their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ashland currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.50.

Ashland Stock Performance

ASH stock opened at $86.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.96, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.89. Ashland Inc. has a one year low of $70.82 and a one year high of $102.50. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $544.00 million during 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 quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders 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 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Ashland’s payout ratio is 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.