SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 158,332 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

SG Americas Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) by 88.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,819 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 158,332 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Ashland were worth $1,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ashland by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 148,433 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,607,000 after purchasing an additional 22,600 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Ashland by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 517,266 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,964,000 after purchasing an additional 7,709 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Ashland by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 171,636 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $12,265,000 after purchasing an additional 39,392 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ashland by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 702,561 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $50,205,000 after purchasing an additional 26,267 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Ashland by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 31,799 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,272,000 after purchasing an additional 3,541 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho set a $60.00 price target on Ashland in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Ashland from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Ashland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ashland from $71.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Ashland from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $68.60.

Ashland Trading Up 1.2%

ASH opened at $50.20 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of -76.06, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business has a 50 day moving average of $50.83 and a 200-day moving average of $60.35. Ashland Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.21 and a 52 week high of $98.99.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.11). Ashland had a negative net margin of 1.12% and a positive return on equity of 7.41%. The firm had revenue of $479.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $514.79 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.415 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This is a boost from Ashland's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Ashland's dividend payout ratio is -69.17%.

Ashland 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.

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