Ashland Inc. $ASH Stake Reduced by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 62.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 51,961 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.07% of Ashland worth $1,579,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Amundi increased its stake in Ashland by 417,809.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 45,970 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,726,000 after purchasing an additional 45,959 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ashland in the first quarter worth about $282,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ashland by 455.4% in the second quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,727 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,143,000 after acquiring an additional 18,635 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Ashland during the first quarter valued at approximately $355,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 13.2% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 175,836 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,841,000 after acquiring an additional 20,533 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Ashland in a research report on Monday, September 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Ashland from $62.00 to $53.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Ashland from $52.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ashland currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.13.

Ashland Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Ashland stock opened at $57.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.57. Ashland Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.21 and a 52-week high of $77.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 2.85 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 9th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $509.00 million for the quarter. Ashland had a negative net margin of 46.25% and a positive return on equity of 7.07%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a $0.415 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. Ashland’s payout ratio is presently -9.05%.

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.