Empyrean Capital Partners LP Buys New Shares in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 542,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,799,000. Ashland accounts for approximately 1.1% of Empyrean Capital Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ASH. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 46,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 7,309 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 49.4% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 284,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,865,000 after acquiring an additional 94,067 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 387,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,953,000 after acquiring an additional 6,245 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Ashland by 10.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 152,830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,061,000 after buying an additional 13,989 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on ASH. Seaport Research Partners upgraded shares of Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Argus lowered their price objective on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a report on Monday, May 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.67.

Ashland Stock Performance

ASH opened at $64.45 on Thursday. Ashland Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.29 and a 1-year high of $67.20. The company has a current ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.18, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $57.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.38.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Ashland had a negative net margin of 39.03% and a positive return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $482.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is presently -10.89%.

Ashland Company 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.