Franklin Resources Inc. Has $101.86 Million Stock Position in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Key Points

• Franklin Resources dramatically increased its Ashland stake by 13,240.8% in Q4, ending with 1.74 million shares worth about $101.9 million and representing 3.79% ownership.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with 93.95% of Ashland’s stock held by institutional investors and hedge funds, and several other firms also recently added or trimmed positions.
• Ashland is drawing mixed signals from the market: activists like Ancora are pushing for a sale, some analysts have turned bullish, but Zacks added the stock to its Strong Sell list even as the company reported a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share.

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) by 13,240.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,736,173 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,723,159 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 3.79% of Ashland worth $101,861,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASH. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 182,267 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,732,000 after acquiring an additional 61,673 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ashland in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,397,000. Standard Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ashland in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $107,318,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 92.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 147,482 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $7,066,000 after acquiring an additional 71,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC now owns 199,376 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,552,000 after acquiring an additional 57,402 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Ashland

Here are the key news stories impacting Ashland this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Ancora’s push for a sale of Ashland has created a potential catalyst for shareholders by highlighting the possibility of a value-maximizing transaction.
• Positive Sentiment: Ashland said it will engage with Ancora and emphasized its commitment to sustainable value creation, which may ease investor concerns about a drawn-out activist fight. Ashland responds to investor presentation by Ancora Alternatives LLC
• Neutral Sentiment: The company reiterated its growth strategy around globalization, innovation, operational performance, and cash generation, reinforcing its existing long-term plan rather than announcing new financial guidance.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks added ASH to its Strong Sell list, which could weigh on sentiment by signaling caution from at least one research source. New Strong Sell Stocks for June 10th

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on ASH. Seaport Research Partners raised Ashland from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore set a $62.00 target price on Ashland in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 target price on Ashland in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Ashland from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.67.

Ashland Stock Performance

ASH stock opened at $64.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 1.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.90. Ashland Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.29 and a fifty-two week high of $67.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of -4.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.43.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $482.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.61 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 8.06% and a negative net margin of 39.03%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Ashland's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Ashland's dividend payout ratio is presently -10.89%.

Ashland 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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