Arizona State Retirement System Trims Position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Arizona State Retirement System lessened its position in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 675 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Ashland were worth $1,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its position in Ashland by 4.9% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,651 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Ashland by 23.5% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. increased its position in Ashland by 4.1% in the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 4,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Ashland by 43.1% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Ashland by 1.9% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $752,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ashland from $70.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ashland from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet raised Ashland from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Ashland in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ashland presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.00.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of Ashland stock opened at $93.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $94.62 and a 200 day moving average of $85.30. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.82 and a 12 month high of $105.15. The firm has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of 30.68 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.24. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.95% and a net margin of 7.62%. The company had revenue of $473.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $478.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.385 per share. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Ashland’s payout ratio is presently 50.49%.

Ashland Profile

Ashland Inc provides additives and specialty ingredients in the North and Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; and nutraceutical solutions comprising products for weight management, joint comfort, stomach and intestinal health, sports nutrition, and general wellness, as well as custom formulation, toll processing, and particle engineering solutions.