Hsbc Holdings PLC Makes New Investment in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 207,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,183,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.45% of Ashland as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ashland by 284.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $172,318,000 after buying an additional 2,555,585 shares during the last quarter. Standard Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Standard Investments LLC now owns 2,625,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $154,009,000 after buying an additional 385,000 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 775.6% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,900,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,473,000 after buying an additional 1,682,994 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $105,668,000 after acquiring an additional 345,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Ashland by 13,240.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,736,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $101,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723,159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Trading Up 1.4%

Ashland stock opened at $64.31 on Friday. Ashland Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.29 and a 52 week high of $68.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 3.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.17, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.74.

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

Ashland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.42 dividend. This is a boost from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -10.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on Ashland in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Seaport Research Partners upgraded Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.67.

Ashland Company Profile

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.