Stifel Financial Corp Acquires 486 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,943 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned 0.08% of Ashland worth $3,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Ashland during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 193.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 610.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ashland in the second quarter worth $71,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ashland by 8,211.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ashland from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.00.

Insider Activity at Ashland

In other news, VP Eric N. Boni sold 451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.07, for a total transaction of $35,209.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,182 shares in the company, valued at $1,107,188.74. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total transaction of $67,617.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,585.70. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ashland Stock Performance

Ashland stock opened at $73.08 on Wednesday. Ashland Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.83 and a fifty-two week high of $102.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.44. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.86.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $522.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $524.07 million. Ashland had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Ashland’s payout ratio is 48.36%.

Ashland 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.