Ashland Inc. $ASH Shares Sold by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP cut its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 36.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 17,892 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP owned 0.07% of Ashland worth $1,464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ASH. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in Ashland in the third quarter valued at $3,067,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 182,267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,732,000 after buying an additional 61,673 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 171.0% in the third quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 30,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,447,000 after buying an additional 19,063 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Ashland during the second quarter worth about $317,000. Finally, Atlantic Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Ashland by 137.1% during the second quarter. Atlantic Investment Management Inc. now owns 296,320 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,899,000 after acquiring an additional 171,320 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ashland Stock Down 4.3%

NYSE ASH opened at $57.43 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $61.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.84. Ashland Inc. has a one year low of $45.21 and a one year high of $65.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 3.15.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $386.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $401.42 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.58% and a negative net margin of 38.26%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.415 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is currently -10.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on ASH shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ashland from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Ashland from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Ashland from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ashland currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.67.

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.