Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Grows Position in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Key Points

• Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ashland Inc. by 12.4% in the first quarter, now owning 166,883 shares valued at approximately $9.89 million.
• Institutional investors hold about 93.95% of Ashland's stock, with several hedge funds, like Allspring Global Investments and Edgestream Partners, significantly increasing their positions recently.
• Ashland's quarterly earnings report showed earnings per share of $1.04, missing estimates, alongside a year-over-year revenue decline of 14.9%.

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) by 12.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 166,883 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,450 shares during the quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned about 0.37% of Ashland worth $9,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ASH. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ashland by 2,736.0% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 709 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Ashland by 212.4% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 706 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Ashland by 63.9% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 834 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ashland by 285.7% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 914 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Ashland by 1,745.8% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ASH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Ashland from $71.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Argus cut their price target on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ashland from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Ashland from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ashland from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.50.

Ashland Price Performance

ASH traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $56.15. The stock had a trading volume of 327,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 534,834. The company has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $52.75 and a 200 day moving average of $53.66. 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 $90.61.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.49 EPS. Ashland has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.415 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Ashland's dividend payout ratio is -8.86%.

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.