Thames Capital Management LLC Invests $10.34 Million in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Thames Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 176,276 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,342,000. Ashland comprises about 1.5% of Thames Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 3,673.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ashland by 59.0% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Ashland during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ashland during the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Ashland during the third quarter worth approximately $57,000. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus lowered their target price on Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a research report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners raised Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Six research 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.78.

Ashland Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE ASH opened at $57.97 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.76, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.36. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.29 and a 12 month high of $65.64. The company has a current ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $482.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $485.61 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 39.03% and a positive return on equity of 8.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This is an increase from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Ashland’s payout ratio is currently -10.77%.

About Ashland

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.