Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Shares Sold by Oak Thistle LLC

Oak Thistle LLC reduced its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 15.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,383 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 979 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in Ashland were worth $524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 122.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ashland in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 143.9% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 378 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Ashland by 163.7% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 559 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Ashland in the 4th quarter valued at $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASH has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ashland from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ashland from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have issued 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 price target of $107.88.

Ashland Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE ASH traded down $2.49 on Monday, reaching $92.00. The stock had a trading volume of 446,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 421,614. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 3.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $97.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.73. Ashland Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.82 and a 12-month high of $102.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.90.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.13. Ashland had a net margin of 9.09% and a return on equity of 5.57%. The company had revenue of $575.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $574.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This is a boost from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. 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.