Atlantic Investment Management Inc. Reduces Position in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Atlantic Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 283,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 12,500 shares during the period. Ashland makes up about 7.8% of Atlantic Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Atlantic Investment Management Inc. owned 0.62% of Ashland worth $13,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 3,673.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ashland by 59.0% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Ashland during the third quarter valued at about $53,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Ashland during the third quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new position in Ashland during the second quarter worth about $62,000. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE ASH opened at $49.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 3.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $45.21 and a 12 month high of $65.64. The company has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.77.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.03. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.58% and a negative net margin of 38.26%.The firm had revenue of $386.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $401.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. Ashland’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be issued 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 dividend yield of 3.3%. Ashland’s payout ratio is currently -10.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASH has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $63.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ashland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.67.

About Ashland

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.