Atlantic Investment Management Inc. Has $12.50 Million Stock Position in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Atlantic Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 25.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 212,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 70,843 shares during the period. Ashland accounts for approximately 7.0% of Atlantic Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Atlantic Investment Management Inc. owned 0.47% of Ashland worth $12,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ashland by 59.0% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Ashland in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Ashland in the third quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Ashland by 398.3% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ashland from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Seaport Research Partners raised shares of Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.67.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASH opened at $64.45 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of -4.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.38. Ashland Inc. has a one year low of $46.29 and a one year high of $67.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 3.06.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $482.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $485.61 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 8.06% and a negative net margin of 39.03%.The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is -10.89%.

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.