12,974 Shares in Ashland Inc. $ASH Bought by Fox Run Management L.L.C.

Key Points

• Fox Run Management L.L.C. invested approximately $769,000 in Ashland Inc. by acquiring 12,974 shares during the first quarter, highlighting increased interest from institutional investors.
• Several institutional investors, including Farther Finance Advisors LLC and Signaturefd LLC, showed significant increases in their holdings of Ashland, suggesting strong confidence in the company's potential.
• Ashland recently reported a net margin of -46.01% for the quarter and missed earnings estimates, prompting analysts to adjust their ratings and price targets for the stock.

Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,974 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $769,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ASH. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Ashland by 33.1% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,291,157 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $132,383,000 after purchasing an additional 569,740 shares in the last quarter. Shapiro Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ashland by 172.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Ashland during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,943,000. Eminence Capital LP increased its position in Ashland by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 2,860,471 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $204,409,000 after purchasing an additional 212,916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in Ashland by 5,452.8% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 175,134 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,384,000 after purchasing an additional 171,980 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Ashland from $71.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ashland from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ashland from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.60.

Ashland Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of ASH stock traded down $0.0250 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.0850. 184,781 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 655,243. Ashland Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.21 and a fifty-two week high of $90.61. 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 $2.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.49. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $51.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.03.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last released 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 company had revenue of $463.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $479.34 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.49 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Ashland has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.415 per share. 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 3.1%. Ashland's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -8.86%.

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.