FourThought Financial LLC Sells 767 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

FourThought Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH – Get Rating) by 54.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 651 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 767 shares during the quarter. FourThought Financial LLC’s holdings in Ashland were worth $62,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ASH. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. acquired a new stake in Ashland in the third quarter valued at about $47,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Ashland by 65.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 543 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Ashland by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ashland during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $84,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Ashland in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $145,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE:ASH opened at $95.00 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $104.75 and a 200-day moving average of $104.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Ashland Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.66 and a twelve month high of $114.36.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $525.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $516.58 million. Ashland had a net margin of 38.23% and a return on equity of 9.82%. Ashland’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 28th. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Ashland Company 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.