KBC Group NV Has $148,000 Position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

KBC Group NV grew its stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 70.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,066 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Ashland were worth $148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ASH. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Ashland by 6,127.2% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 880,459 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $76,574,000 after purchasing an additional 866,320 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 12.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,598,602 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $226,000,000 after purchasing an additional 284,215 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 2,060.5% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 179,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,802,000 after buying an additional 170,859 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Ashland by 703.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 184,806 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,206,000 after buying an additional 161,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Ashland by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,737,738 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $151,131,000 after buying an additional 103,517 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Ashland from $81.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Ashland from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ashland from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ashland currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.57.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of ASH opened at $65.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Ashland Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.60 and a twelve month high of $102.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -98.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $71.38 and a 200-day moving average of $80.84.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.51). Ashland had a negative net margin of 1.12% and a positive return on equity of 7.41%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. Ashland’s payout ratio is presently -245.45%.

Insider Activity at Ashland

In other news, CEO Guillermo Novo acquired 31,294 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $64.24 per share, for a total transaction of $2,010,326.56. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 31,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,010,326.56. This trade represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total transaction of $67,617.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,585.70. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

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.