Jane Street Group LLC Buys 115,883 Shares of Ashland Inc. $ASH

Key Points

• Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Ashland Inc. by 322.9%, acquiring a total of 151,772 shares worth approximately $8,999,000.
• Ashland's latest earnings report showed an EPS of $1.04, which was below analysts' consensus estimate of $1.15, indicating a 14.9% decrease in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.415 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.0%, despite a negative dividend payout ratio of -8.86%.

Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) by 322.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 151,772 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 115,883 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC owned approximately 0.33% of Ashland worth $8,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 109.5% in the first quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 69,270 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,107,000 after buying an additional 36,200 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Ashland by 19.1% in the first quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 11,075 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $657,000 after purchasing an additional 1,775 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,815 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Ashland by 48.7% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,228,525 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $72,839,000 after buying an additional 402,286 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 195.1% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 61,309 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,635,000 after purchasing an additional 40,530 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ASH. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ashland from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Argus cut their price objective on Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ashland from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ashland from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ashland currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.67.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE ASH traded up $0.12 on Thursday, reaching $54.28. 397,430 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 642,844. Ashland Inc. has a one year low of $45.21 and a one year high of $89.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of -2.90, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.52. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $53.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $463.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $479.34 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 6.82% and a negative net margin of 46.01%.Ashland's revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.49 EPS. Ashland has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be issued 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 yield of 3.1%. Ashland's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -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.