Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 210 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL cut its stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 64,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 210 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Ashland were worth $6,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Ashland by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,658,237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $224,118,000 after acquiring an additional 62,182 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Ashland by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,424,801 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $204,435,000 after acquiring an additional 164,468 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Ashland by 9.0% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,806,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $175,864,000 after acquiring an additional 149,483 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Ashland by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,671,593 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $140,932,000 after acquiring an additional 256,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ashland by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 689,517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $58,133,000 after acquiring an additional 21,667 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price target on Ashland from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ashland from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $112.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Ashland from $101.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.88.

Ashland Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ASH traded up $1.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $96.19. 193,529 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 288,615. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 3.15 and a quick ratio of 1.94. Ashland Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.82 and a 1-year high of $102.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $96.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.11. The firm has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.90.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $575.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $574.64 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 9.09%. Ashland’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

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

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.