Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) by 36.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,994 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 13,237 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Ashland were worth $2,000,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ASH. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Ashland by 193.1% in the third 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 position in Ashland by 133.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 650 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in Ashland by 8,211.1% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 748 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ashland in the second quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, Ecofi Investissements SA acquired a new position in shares of Ashland in the second quarter valued at approximately $74,000. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
ASH has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ashland from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. 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. StockNews.com lowered Ashland from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $103.50.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Ashland
Ashland Stock Performance
Ashland stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $84.82. The stock had a trading volume of 307,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 414,458. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.82 and a 1 year 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 stock's 50 day moving average is $86.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.06. The stock has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.88.
Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $544.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.08 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 7.01%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.49 EPS for the current year.
Ashland Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. Ashland's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.92%.
Ashland Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Featured Stories
Before you consider Ashland, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Ashland wasn't on the list.
While Ashland currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Thinking about investing in Meta, Roblox, or Unity? Click the link to learn what streetwise investors need to know about the metaverse and public markets before making an investment.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
