waypoint wealth counsel Invests $206,000 in Ashland Inc. $ASH

waypoint wealth counsel acquired a new position in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,096 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Ashland by 44.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Ashland by 2,440.4% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,321 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 1,269 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Ashland by 95.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 7,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its position in Ashland by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 16,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $810,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Ashland by 28.2% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,685 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 5,653 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE:ASH opened at $47.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.49. Ashland Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.21 and a 52 week high of $88.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.59.

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

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.415 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -8.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Ashland from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ashland from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Ashland from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.57.

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.