Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $15.78 Million Position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) by 11.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 166,960 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 21,723 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.33% of Ashland worth $15,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Ashland by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,658,237 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $224,118,000 after purchasing an additional 62,182 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Ashland by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,424,801 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $204,435,000 after buying an additional 164,468 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Ashland by 9.0% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,806,137 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $175,864,000 after acquiring an additional 149,483 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Ashland by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 664,436 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $56,019,000 after acquiring an additional 37,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Ashland by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 657,010 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $63,973,000 after acquiring an additional 26,245 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on ASH shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered Ashland from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ashland from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $103.50.

Ashland Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE ASH traded down $1.73 during trading on Thursday, reaching $86.26. 330,842 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 412,549. Ashland Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.82 and a fifty-two week high of $102.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.88. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $90.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 7.01% and a return on equity of 5.98%. The firm had revenue of $544.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Ashland's dividend 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.