Ashland Inc. $ASH Shares Bought by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 51.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 182,267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 61,673 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.40% of Ashland worth $8,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in shares of Ashland by 3,673.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ashland by 59.0% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Ashland in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Ashland in the second quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Ashland from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ashland presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.67.

Ashland Price Performance

ASH stock opened at $62.33 on Monday. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.21 and a 1 year high of $65.64. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of -4.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.71.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $386.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $401.42 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.58% and a negative net margin of 38.26%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Ashland’s payout ratio is -10.99%.

Key Headlines Impacting Ashland

Here are the key news stories impacting Ashland this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/quarterly take: A Seeking Alpha piece argues Ashland remains a buy despite recent strength, citing valuation and upside vs. peers — this supports investor confidence and buying interest. Ashland: Still A Buy Despite Recent Strength
• Positive Sentiment: Technical trigger: A market note flagged Ashland shares crossing above the 200-day moving average — a bullish technical event that can attract momentum traders, though the write-up also raises the question of profit‑taking. Ashland Share Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?
• Neutral Sentiment: Local culture: Paramount Theater in Ashland celebrated a grand reopening — positive for local community vibrancy but not material to Ashland Inc.’s corporate performance. ‘Let the show begin’: Paramount Theater Ashland celebrates grand reopening
• Neutral Sentiment: Community/education: Ashland High School held a vigil after a fatal car crash — a local development with community impact but unrelated to the company’s operations. Ashland High School holds vigil for students killed in car crash
• Neutral Sentiment: College sports note: Keystone linebacker Shane Ohl committed to Ashland (university) — local/regional interest but not material to ASH corporate fundamentals. Keystone football: All-Ohio linebacker Shane Ohl commits to Ashland
• Neutral Sentiment: High school sports: Boyd’s Spurlock beat Ashland for a district basketball crown — local sports result with no company impact. Prep boys basketball: Boyd’s Spurlock ices Ashland for 64th District crown
• Neutral Sentiment: Arts/education: Ashland University is hosting a free winter choral concert — positive for community engagement but immaterial to ASH stock. Ashland University hosts free winter choral concert March 1
• Neutral Sentiment: Policy discussion: A former Peace Corps volunteer spoke on USAID shutdown impacts in Ashland — local policy discussion without direct corporate relevance. Former Peace Corps volunteer speaks on USAID shutdown in Ashland
• Neutral Sentiment: Local business/community: A gardening club story on downtown vitality — positive for local economy but not for ASH corporate earnings. Gardening club hears how Ashland’s downtown thrives

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.