Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Acquires 2,441 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 34.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,466 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,441 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $894,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Ashland during the first quarter worth about $624,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 56.5% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 216,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,042,000 after buying an additional 78,013 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ashland in the 1st quarter valued at $3,480,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Ashland by 427.1% in the first quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after acquiring an additional 12,096 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Ashland by 40.0% during the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 89,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,724,000 after acquiring an additional 25,600 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.50.

Ashland Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of ASH opened at $88.00 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $89.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.88. Ashland Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.82 and a 52 week high of $102.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $544.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.08 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 7.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.97%.

Ashland Company Profile

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.