Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Shares Sold by Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,747 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 267 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $1,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Ashland by 122.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ashland in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 143.9% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 378 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its stake in Ashland by 163.7% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 559 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in Ashland during the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ASH shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ashland from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Ashland from $101.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ashland from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Ashland from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.88.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of ASH traded down $0.98 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $96.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 93,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 403,279. The company has a current ratio of 3.15, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Ashland Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.82 and a 1-year high of $102.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.90.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.13. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 9.09%. The company had revenue of $575.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $574.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. Ashland’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is a positive change from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Ashland’s payout ratio is 42.97%.

About Ashland

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.