Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Invests $1.01 Million in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 21,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,014,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ASH. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in shares of Ashland in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,067,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Ashland by 95.7% in the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 7,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC grew its stake in Ashland by 171.0% in the third quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 30,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 19,063 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Ashland in the second quarter worth $317,000. Finally, Atlantic Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ashland by 137.1% during the second quarter. Atlantic Investment Management Inc. now owns 296,320 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,899,000 after buying an additional 171,320 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE ASH opened at $61.14 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.18. Ashland Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.21 and a 52-week high of $67.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.85. The company has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of -3.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.43.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $477.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $481.97 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.07% and a negative net margin of 46.25%.Ashland’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.415 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is presently -9.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ashland from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Ashland from $62.00 to $53.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Ashland from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.13.

Ashland Profile

Ashland Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and supplies a broad range of performance and process-critical additives, ingredients and technologies. Its portfolio spans performance additives for coatings, adhesives and sealants; specialty ingredients for personal care and pharmaceutical applications; and process aids used in water treatment and other industrial processes. Ashland aims to address customer challenges by delivering tailored solutions that improve product performance, processing efficiency and sustainability outcomes.

Founded in 1924 as the Ashland Oil & Refining Company, the firm gradually expanded into the specialty chemicals sector over the second half of the 20th century.