Ameriprise Financial Inc. Has $8.34 Million Stock Position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. trimmed its position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 116,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,091 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Ashland worth $8,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ashland by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,928,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $352,221,000 after purchasing an additional 66,530 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Ashland by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,818,695 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $201,423,000 after purchasing an additional 44,018 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Ashland by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,806,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $200,583,000 after purchasing an additional 208,320 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Ashland by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,022,580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $73,074,000 after purchasing an additional 142,121 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Ashland by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 702,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $50,205,000 after purchasing an additional 26,267 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ashland Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE:ASH opened at $51.36 on Wednesday. Ashland Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.21 and a fifty-two week high of $102.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of -77.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.31.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.11). Ashland had a negative net margin of 1.12% and a positive return on equity of 7.41%. The business had revenue of $479.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $514.79 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.27 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be issued a $0.415 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This is an increase from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -69.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Ashland from $71.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Ashland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut Ashland from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com cut Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut Ashland from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.60.

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.