LPL Financial LLC Buys 8,153 Shares of Ashland Inc. $ASH

Key Points

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LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) by 25.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,952 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 8,153 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.08% of Ashland worth $2,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eminence Capital LP lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 212,916 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Ashland by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,818,695 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $201,423,000 after purchasing an additional 44,018 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Ashland by 33.1% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 569,740 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Ashland by 7.4% during the first quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,683,627 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $99,822,000 after purchasing an additional 115,811 shares during the period. Finally, Shapiro Capital Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $47,934,000 after purchasing an additional 424,595 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company's stock.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ASH traded up $2.5450 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $56.4350. The stock had a trading volume of 385,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 622,128. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $52.02 and a 200-day moving average of $53.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.68. The company has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.49. Ashland Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.21 and a 12-month high of $90.61.

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

Ashland Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be paid a $0.415 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Ashland's dividend payout ratio is -8.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ASH. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ashland from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Ashland from $71.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ashland from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ashland from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.60.

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.