Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $740,000 Position in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 13,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $740,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ashland during the third quarter worth approximately $10,397,000. Standard Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ashland in the third quarter valued at approximately $107,318,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP grew its position in Ashland by 92.9% in the third quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 147,482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,066,000 after acquiring an additional 71,044 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Ashland in the third quarter valued at $1,167,000. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $105,668,000 after purchasing an additional 345,919 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ashland Stock Performance

Ashland stock traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $66.31. 7,003 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 850,307. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 3.06. Ashland Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.29 and a 12-month high of $68.25. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.08. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.41.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). Ashland had a negative net margin of 39.03% and a positive return on equity of 8.06%. The company had revenue of $482.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -10.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ASH. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ashland currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.67.

Ashland Company 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.