Natixis Advisors L.P. Increases Position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Free Report) by 36.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 349,792 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 94,118 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned 0.70% of Ashland worth $29,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Ashland by 33.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,260,333 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $184,624,000 after acquiring an additional 560,916 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,953,015 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $159,522,000 after purchasing an additional 248,591 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,671,593 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $140,932,000 after purchasing an additional 256,828 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,404,550 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $114,724,000 after purchasing an additional 29,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 689,517 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $58,133,000 after purchasing an additional 21,667 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE ASH traded up $0.06 on Friday, hitting $95.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 229,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 365,361. Ashland Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.82 and a 52-week high of $99.55. The company has a current ratio of 3.15, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $95.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.99. The firm has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.42 and a beta of 0.92.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.13. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 9.09%. The business had revenue of $575.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $574.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. The business's revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Ashland in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. TheStreet upgraded Ashland from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ashland from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $100.00 to $126.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho increased their target price on Ashland from $101.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Ashland from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $103.11.

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.