Custom Index Systems LLC Purchases Shares of 4,971 Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Custom Index Systems LLC purchased a new stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,971 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASH. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Ashland by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,509 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $56,019,000 after purchasing an additional 37,977 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Ashland by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,632 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. increased its stake in Ashland by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 17,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Ashland by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,709 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $566,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE:ASH opened at $85.01 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $90.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.56. Ashland Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.82 and a 1-year high of $102.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.88.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $544.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.08 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. Ashland’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASH has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.50.

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.