Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys Shares of 207,013 Ashland Inc. $ASH

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

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Ashland by 59.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Ashland during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 398.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 535.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,348 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 28.4% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ashland Trading Down 1.3%

Ashland stock opened at $65.86 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.29 and a 1 year high of $68.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.13.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $485.61 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 39.03% and a positive return on equity of 8.06%. Ashland’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a positive change from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -10.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ASH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seaport Research Partners upgraded Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Argus dropped their price objective on Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.67.

Ashland 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.