Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Purchases Shares of 37,000 Ashland Inc. $ASH

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 37,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,058,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. owned about 0.08% of Ashland at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ashland by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,215 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in Ashland by 1.8% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 11,039 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in Ashland by 6.3% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in 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. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ASH shares. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ashland in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a research report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ashland from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.20.

Ashland Price Performance

ASH opened at $66.35 on Tuesday. Ashland Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.29 and a 52-week high of $69.66. The company has a 50 day moving average of $63.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.87. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 3.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued 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). The business 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 business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Ashland’s payout ratio is currently -10.89%.

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.