Raymond James Trust N.A. Raises Stock Position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 5.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ashland during the first quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Ashland by 8.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,613 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,397,000 after buying an additional 2,016 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Ashland during the first quarter worth $228,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Ashland by 400.3% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,891 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,547,000 after acquiring an additional 12,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 33.0% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 429,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,727,000 after acquiring an additional 106,417 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Ashland from $92.00 to $83.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.29.

Ashland Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ASH opened at $78.31 on Thursday. Ashland Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.04 and a twelve month high of $102.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.91. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 23.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.88.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $522.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $524.07 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 7.95%. The firm’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total value of $67,617.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,585.70. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ashland Company Profile

Ashland Inc provides additives and specialty ingredients in the North and Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; and nutraceutical solutions comprising products for weight management, joint comfort, stomach and intestinal health, sports nutrition, and general wellness, as well as custom formulation, toll processing, and particle engineering solutions.