Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Short Interest Up 47.6% in April

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,000,000 shares, an increase of 47.6% from the March 31st total of 677,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 417,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 2.0% of the company's stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ashland

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASH. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Ashland by 136.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,600 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Ashland in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $627,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Ashland by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 272,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $22,258,000 after acquiring an additional 10,100 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Ashland by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 4,592 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Ashland by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,576 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $537,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ASH. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ashland from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Ashland from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ashland from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Ashland in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $101.00.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE:ASH traded up $0.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $96.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 252,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 304,569. Ashland has a 12-month low of $70.82 and a 12-month high of $101.94. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $95.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.27. The company has a current ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.50 and a beta of 0.92.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.24. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.95% and a net margin of 7.62%. The business had revenue of $473.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $478.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. Ashland's revenue was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ashland will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.