Ashland Inc. $ASH Shares Acquired by Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Diamond Hill Capital Management increased its stake in Ashland by 23.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 345,919 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 1.8 million shares worth about $105.7 million.
• Ashland’s latest earnings missed expectations, reporting $0.91 EPS versus the $0.97 consensus estimate, while revenue came in slightly below forecasts at $482 million.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.42 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 3.0%, even as analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a $62.78 price target.

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) by 23.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,801,062 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 345,919 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned 3.94% of Ashland worth $105,668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ashland in the 4th quarter valued at about $269,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ashland by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,294 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ashland by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,447 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ashland by 83.8% during the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 15,395 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $903,000 after acquiring an additional 7,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 1,080,682.0% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,437,440 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $84,335,000 after buying an additional 1,437,307 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of ASH opened at $56.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.65, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $54.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 1.78. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.29 and a 12 month high of $65.64.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.61 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 8.06% and a negative net margin of 39.03%.Ashland's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a boost from Ashland's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Ashland's payout ratio is presently -10.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research downgraded Ashland from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Evercore set a $62.00 price objective on Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.78.

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.

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