Edgestream Partners L.P. Cuts Stock Holdings in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Edgestream Partners L.P. reduced its position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 62.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,364 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 109,770 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. owned about 0.14% of Ashland worth $3,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Ashland by 6.3% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ashland by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,734 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 44.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in Ashland by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 11,740 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ASH. UBS Group cut their price objective on Ashland from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Ashland from $62.00 to $53.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.13.

Ashland Price Performance

Ashland stock opened at $58.33 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.18, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Ashland Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.21 and a 52-week high of $78.75.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 9th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter. Ashland had a negative net margin of 46.25% and a positive return on equity of 7.07%. The firm had revenue of $509.00 million for the quarter. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a $0.415 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is -9.05%.

Ashland Company 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.