Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Stock Position in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp massively increased its Ashland stake in the first quarter, buying 91,738 additional shares and ending with 92,455 shares valued at about $5.14 million.
• Institutional ownership in Ashland remains high, with several other large investors also boosting positions; overall, 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutions and hedge funds.
• Ashland’s latest quarterly results missed earnings expectations, and analysts remain mixed: the stock has a Hold consensus rating with an average price target of $63.78, while the company also recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.42 per share.

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) by 12,794.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,455 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 91,738 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp owned 0.20% of Ashland worth $5,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 18.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 46,306 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 7,309 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Ashland by 49.4% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 284,454 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $16,865,000 after purchasing an additional 94,067 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Ashland by 1.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 387,132 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $22,953,000 after purchasing an additional 6,245 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 152,830 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,061,000 after purchasing an additional 13,989 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Ashland from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ashland from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Argus reduced their price objective on Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $63.78.

Ashland Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of ASH stock opened at $68.68 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 3.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Ashland Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.29 and a fifty-two week high of $69.64.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). Ashland had a negative net margin of 39.03% and a positive return on equity of 8.06%. The company had revenue of $482.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. Ashland's quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a boost from Ashland's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Ashland's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -10.89%.

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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