Ashland Inc. $ASH Stake Cut by Atlantic Investment Management Inc.

Atlantic Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 25.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 212,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 70,843 shares during the period. Ashland accounts for about 7.0% of Atlantic Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Atlantic Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $12,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 284.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $172,318,000 after buying an additional 2,555,585 shares during the period. Standard Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ashland during the third quarter worth $107,318,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 1,723,159 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 775.6% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,900,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,473,000 after buying an additional 1,682,994 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,437,307 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ashland Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE ASH opened at $64.45 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of -4.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a fifty day moving average of $57.40 and a 200 day moving average of $58.38. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.29 and a 1 year high of $67.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 1.78.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 negative net margin of 39.03% and a positive return on equity of 8.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASH has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a research note on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ashland from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ashland currently has an average 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.