Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 65,399 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $4,309,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.14% of Ashland at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ashland by 59.0% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ashland during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Ashland during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Ashland by 38.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,005 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in Ashland by 398.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,460 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
ASH has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ashland from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ashland in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Ashland from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ashland from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Ashland from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $73.90.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on ASH
Ashland Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:ASH opened at $72.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 3.05. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $70.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 64.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.39. Ashland Inc. has a one year low of $46.29 and a one year high of $78.25.
Ashland Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Ashland's payout ratio is currently 147.37%.
Key Ashland News
Here are the key news stories impacting Ashland this week:
Ashland Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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