Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group opened a new position in Ashland, buying 217,006 shares worth about $10.4 million and holding roughly 0.47% of the company at quarter-end.
• Institutional ownership is very high at 93.95%, with major funds such as Millennium, Goldman Sachs, UBS and RBC recently increasing their stakes.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $67.67, based on 6 Buy, 4 Hold and 1 Sell ratings.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 217,006 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $10,397,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.47% of Ashland at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Ashland by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 46,306 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 7,309 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 6.3% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 49.4% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 284,454 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $16,865,000 after acquiring an additional 94,067 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 6,245 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 10.1% in the first 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 valued at $9,061,000 after acquiring an additional 13,989 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Ashland from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $67.67.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ASH opened at $54.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.42. Ashland Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.21 and a twelve month high of $65.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $61.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.88. The company has a current ratio of 3.15, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.03. Ashland had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a positive return on equity of 7.58%. The business had revenue of $386.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $401.42 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be issued a $0.415 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Ashland's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -10.99%.

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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