XTX Topco Ltd Acquires 604 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,783 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings in Ashland were worth $735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Ashland by 122.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ashland by 8,211.1% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ashland in the second quarter worth $71,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Ashland in the fourth quarter worth $67,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Ashland by 143.7% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ASH shares. 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 report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.50.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ASH opened at $87.32 on Monday. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.82 and a 1 year high of $102.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $89.29 and its 200 day moving average is $94.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.88.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced 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 company had revenue of $544.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.08 million. Ashland had a net margin of 7.01% and a return on equity of 5.98%. Ashland’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.