UBS Group AG Sells 69,955 Shares of Ashland Inc. $ASH

UBS Group AG decreased its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 24.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 219,876 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 69,955 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Ashland were worth $12,900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 3,673.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ashland by 59.0% during the second 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 during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Ashland in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Ashland during the third quarter worth $53,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Ashland during the third quarter worth $57,000. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of ASH stock opened at $56.21 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.86. The company has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of -3.65, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Ashland Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.29 and a 12-month high of $65.64.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $964.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.61 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 8.06% and a negative net margin of 39.03%.During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -10.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ASH. Weiss Ratings downgraded Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a 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 for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Argus cut their target price on Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a report on Friday, May 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.78.

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.