Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Position in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 1,804.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,021,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 967,626 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Ashland were worth $59,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASH. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in Ashland by 3,673.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ashland by 59.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Ashland during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Ashland during the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in Ashland during the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on ASH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a report on Monday, May 4th. Evercore set a $62.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Seaport Research Partners upgraded shares of Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.78.

Ashland Trading Down 3.0%

ASH stock opened at $54.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of -3.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.40. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.29 and a 12 month high of $65.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $54.40 and its 200 day moving average is $56.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 1.78.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $964.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $485.61 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 8.06% and a negative net margin of 39.03%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 3.51 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Ashland’s payout ratio is -10.77%.

Ashland Company 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.