Farther Finance Advisors LLC Grows Position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 2,736.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 709 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ashland were worth $41,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Ashland by 212.4% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ashland during the 1st quarter valued at about $446,000. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ashland during the 1st quarter valued at about $337,000. NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Ashland by 125,433.3% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,766 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 3,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ashland by 285.7% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of Ashland stock opened at $50.74 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50 day moving average is $50.68 and its 200 day moving average is $59.29. Ashland Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.21 and a twelve month high of $98.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 positive return on equity of 7.14% and a negative net margin of 5.74%. The business had revenue of $479.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $514.79 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.415 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. This is an increase from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -69.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ASH shares. Mizuho set a $60.00 price objective on Ashland in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Ashland from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn cut Ashland from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Ashland from $71.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Ashland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.60.

About Ashland

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.