Boston Partners Decreases Stock Holdings in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Boston Partners decreased its stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 60.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 86,931 shares during the period. Boston Partners’ holdings in Ashland were worth $2,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ASH shares. Argus decreased their target price on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Zacks Research cut shares of Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $62.00 to $53.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.13.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of Ashland stock opened at $52.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of -2.82, a PEG ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $49.58 and a 200 day moving average of $51.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $45.21 and a 12 month high of $80.66.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 9th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $509.00 million for the quarter. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 6.82% and a negative net margin of 46.01%. Ashland has set its FY 2022 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.415 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is presently -9.05%.

Ashland 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.