Eagle Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 75.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 205,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 88,425 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $16,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ASH. Equitable Trust Co. grew its holdings in Ashland by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 6,431 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in Ashland by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,295 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in Ashland by 3.8% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Ashland by 5.4% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VELA Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Ashland by 0.5% during the second quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 50,251 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,748,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ASH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Ashland from $92.00 to $83.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ashland news, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total transaction of $67,617.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,585.70. This represents a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ashland Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Ashland stock opened at $79.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.33. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.04 and a 1 year high of $102.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $84.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.88.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.02). Ashland had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 7.95%. The business had revenue of $522.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $524.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Ashland’s payout ratio is 48.36%.

About Ashland

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.