Truist Financial Corp Decreases Stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Truist Financial Corp decreased its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,420 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.08% of Ashland worth $3,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Ashland by 33.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,260,333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $184,624,000 after purchasing an additional 560,916 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ashland by 14.6% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,953,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $159,522,000 after buying an additional 248,591 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,671,593 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $140,932,000 after buying an additional 256,828 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Ashland by 2.2% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,404,550 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $114,724,000 after acquiring an additional 29,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ashland by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 689,517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $58,133,000 after acquiring an additional 21,667 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of ASH stock opened at $98.02 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.15, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a PE ratio of 26.00 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.29. Ashland Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.82 and a 52 week high of $99.55.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.13. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 9.09%. The company had revenue of $575.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $574.64 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ashland from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $112.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ashland from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Ashland in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Ashland from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.44.

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.