GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases 33,657 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) by 1,935.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,396 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 33,657 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned 0.08% of Ashland worth $20,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in Ashland by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,590 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ashland by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 5,225 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,613 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Ashland by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank raised its position in shares of Ashland by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,042 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho set a $60.00 target price on Ashland in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Ashland from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ashland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ashland from $71.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Ashland from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ashland has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $68.60.

Ashland Price Performance

ASH traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $50.13. The stock had a trading volume of 491,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 545,235. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.21 and a 1 year high of $102.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 2.52. The business has a fifty day moving average of $50.66 and a 200 day moving average of $61.70. The company has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -75.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.52.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.11). Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.41% and a negative net margin of 1.12%. The business had revenue of $479.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $514.79 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be issued a $0.415 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is an increase from Ashland's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Ashland's payout ratio is currently -69.17%.

About Ashland

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.