Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC Has $9.55 Million Stock Position in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 40.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 199,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 57,402 shares during the period. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.44% of Ashland worth $9,552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ASH. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 284.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $172,318,000 after acquiring an additional 2,555,585 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Ashland by 807.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,123,804 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,841,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,006 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ashland during the 3rd quarter valued at $10,397,000. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in Ashland by 353.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 250,085 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,574,000 after purchasing an additional 194,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ashland by 137.1% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Investment Management Inc. now owns 296,320 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,899,000 after purchasing an additional 171,320 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of Ashland stock opened at $49.94 on Friday. Ashland Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.21 and a 52-week high of $65.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of -3.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 3.15 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $61.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.77.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.03. Ashland had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a positive return on equity of 7.58%. The company had revenue of $386.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $401.42 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.415 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -10.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $63.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Evercore set a $62.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised Ashland from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $61.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ashland currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.67.

Ashland Company Profile

Ashland Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and supplies a broad range of performance and process-critical additives, ingredients and technologies. Its portfolio spans performance additives for coatings, adhesives and sealants; specialty ingredients for personal care and pharmaceutical applications; and process aids used in water treatment and other industrial processes. Ashland aims to address customer challenges by delivering tailored solutions that improve product performance, processing efficiency and sustainability outcomes.

Founded in 1924 as the Ashland Oil & Refining Company, the firm gradually expanded into the specialty chemicals sector over the second half of the 20th century.