Ashland Inc. (ASH) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.42 on March 15th

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, January 19th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be given a dividend of 0.415 per share by the basic materials company on Sunday, March 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th.

Ashland has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. Ashland has a payout ratio of 34.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Ashland to earn $5.29 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.66 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.4%.

Ashland Trading Down 2.6%

Ashland stock opened at $61.28 on Wednesday. Ashland has a 12-month low of $45.21 and a 12-month high of $73.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $57.69 and a 200 day moving average of $53.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.85, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.09). Ashland had a negative net margin of 46.25% and a positive return on equity of 7.07%. The firm had revenue of $477.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $481.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Ashland will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ashland

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its position in shares of Ashland by 3,673.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Ashland by 59.0% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Ashland in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Ashland in the third quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Ashland during the third quarter valued at about $57,000. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ashland

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.