Fifth Third Bancorp Buys 91,738 Shares of Ashland Inc. $ASH

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 12,794.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 92,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 91,738 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Ashland were worth $5,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 284.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $172,318,000 after acquiring an additional 2,555,585 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 13,240.8% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,736,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $101,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,159 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Ashland by 775.6% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,900,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $111,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,994 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Ashland by 1,080,682.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,437,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,335,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Ashland by 1,804.0% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,021,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $59,918,000 after purchasing an additional 967,626 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Stock Performance

ASH stock opened at $68.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of -4.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $62.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.54. Ashland Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.29 and a 1-year high of $69.64.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $482.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.61 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 8.06% and a negative net margin of 39.03%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is an increase 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASH has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research cut Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ashland from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Seaport Research Partners raised shares of Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 target price on Ashland in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Argus lowered their price objective on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.78.

Ashland 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.