Northern Trust Corp Buys 24,478 Shares of Ashland Inc. $ASH

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Ashland Inc. by 4.9% during Q1, owning approximately 1.14% of the company valued at $30.95 million.
• Ashland's most recent earnings report revealed a disappointment with a net income of $1.04 EPS, missing estimates by $0.11, and reporting a 14.9% year-over-year revenue decline.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.415, which will be paid on September 15th, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.0%.

Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 522,088 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 24,478 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.14% of Ashland worth $30,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eminence Capital LP raised its holdings in Ashland by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 2,860,471 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $204,409,000 after buying an additional 212,916 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 33.1% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,291,157 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $132,383,000 after acquiring an additional 569,740 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ashland by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,683,627 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $99,822,000 after purchasing an additional 115,811 shares during the last quarter. Shapiro Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ashland by 172.5% during the fourth quarter. Shapiro Capital Management LLC now owns 670,785 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $47,934,000 after purchasing an additional 424,595 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Ashland by 10.2% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 446,211 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,456,000 after purchasing an additional 41,181 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ASH shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Ashland from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ashland from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ashland from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Argus cut their price objective on Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ashland from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.67.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASH traded up $0.12 during trading on Thursday, hitting $54.28. 397,430 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 444,930. The company has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.68. Ashland Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.21 and a 1-year high of $89.09. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $53.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.38.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.11). Ashland had a positive return on equity of 6.82% and a negative net margin of 46.01%.The business had revenue of $463.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $479.34 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.49 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Ashland has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.415 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Ashland's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -8.86%.

Ashland 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.