Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Has $1.93 Million Stock Holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH – Get Rating) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,320 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 940 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Ashland were worth $1,930,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ASH. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 46.0% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 45,552 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,325,000 after purchasing an additional 14,356 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan Co. raised its holdings in Ashland by 378.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 3,034 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Ashland by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 4,741 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 2,210 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Ashland by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,346 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares during the period. Finally, Luminus Management LLC increased its position in Ashland by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Luminus Management LLC now owns 326,158 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,975,000 after purchasing an additional 47,508 shares during the period. 92.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Price Performance

ASH opened at $99.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 3.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.55. Ashland Inc. has a 52-week low of $86.71 and a 52-week high of $114.36.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $525.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $516.58 million. Ashland had a net margin of 38.23% and a return on equity of 9.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 28th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Ashland from $118.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ashland from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Ashland from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $104.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ashland from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.13.

Ashland Profile

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Ashland, Inc engages in the provision of architectural coatings, construction, energy, food and beverage, nutraceuticals, personal care, and pharmaceutical. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences, Personal Care, Special Additives, and Intermediates. The company was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Wilmington, DE.