SG Americas Securities LLC Buys Shares of 7,549 Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $713,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Ashland in the first quarter worth about $624,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 56.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 216,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,042,000 after purchasing an additional 78,013 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ashland in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,480,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,424,801 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $204,435,000 after purchasing an additional 164,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ashland by 427.1% during 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 buying an additional 12,096 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Mizuho upped their price objective on Ashland from $101.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.50.

Ashland Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE ASH opened at $84.97 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 3.15, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Ashland Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.82 and a 12-month high of $102.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.99.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $544.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.08 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 9.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Ashland’s payout ratio is 42.97%.

About Ashland

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.