Blue Trust Inc. Buys 1,642 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 850.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,835 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,642 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 193.1% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 8,211.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ashland in the 2nd quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Ecofi Investissements SA bought a new stake in shares of Ashland in the 2nd quarter valued at about $74,000. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASH has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lowered their target price 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 lowered their target price 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 lowered their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.50.

Ashland Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:ASH opened at $83.84 on Friday. Ashland Inc. has a twelve month low of $70.82 and a twelve month high of $102.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $86.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.25. The company has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.88.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $577.08 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Ashland’s payout ratio is presently 42.97%.

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.