JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $4.38 Million Stock Holdings in Ashland Inc. $ASH

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,313 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 10,502 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $4,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 3,673.3% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Ashland by 59.0% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Ashland in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ashland in the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Ashland in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ASH shares. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Argus decreased their price target on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Evercore set a $62.00 price objective on Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Ashland from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Ashland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.11.

Ashland Trading Down 1.9%

ASH opened at $54.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.60, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 3.15, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company’s 50 day moving average is $58.20 and its 200-day moving average is $55.51. Ashland Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.21 and a 1-year high of $65.64.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.03. Ashland had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a positive return on equity of 7.58%. The business had revenue of $386.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $401.42 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 1st were paid a $0.415 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is presently -10.99%.

About Ashland

Ashland Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and supplies a broad range of performance and process-critical additives, ingredients and technologies. Its portfolio spans performance additives for coatings, adhesives and sealants; specialty ingredients for personal care and pharmaceutical applications; and process aids used in water treatment and other industrial processes. Ashland aims to address customer challenges by delivering tailored solutions that improve product performance, processing efficiency and sustainability outcomes.

Founded in 1924 as the Ashland Oil & Refining Company, the firm gradually expanded into the specialty chemicals sector over the second half of the 20th century.