Ashland Inc. $ASH Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 65.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 162,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 63,961 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $9,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ASH. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 46,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 7,309 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Ashland by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Ashland by 49.4% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 284,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,865,000 after purchasing an additional 94,067 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ashland by 1.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 387,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,953,000 after purchasing an additional 6,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Ashland by 10.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 152,830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,061,000 after purchasing an additional 13,989 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ashland Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:ASH opened at $66.39 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 1.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.41. Ashland Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.29 and a 1-year high of $69.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $63.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.83.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its 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). Ashland had a negative net margin of 39.03% and a positive return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $482.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $485.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. Ashland’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 3.51 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Ashland’s payout ratio is -10.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ASH. Seaport Research Partners raised shares of Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ashland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a report on Friday, May 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.78.

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.