207,013 Shares in Ashland Inc. $ASH Purchased by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 207,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,183,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted 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 during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Ashland in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ashland during the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 398.3% during the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167 shares during the period. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its holdings in Ashland by 535.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,348 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:ASH opened at $64.31 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.74. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.29 and a 1 year high of $68.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 1.78. The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.43.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $482.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.61 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 39.03% and a positive return on equity of 8.06%. Ashland’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Ashland’s payout ratio is presently -10.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASH has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ashland from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Zacks Research downgraded Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a research report on Friday, May 1st. 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. Finally, Seaport Research Partners raised shares of Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.67.

Ashland Company Profile

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.