Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Short Interest Up 10.9% in December

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,220,000 shares, a growth of 10.9% from the December 15th total of 1,100,000 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 422,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ASH. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com lowered Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ashland from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ashland news, VP Eric N. Boni sold 451 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.07, for a total value of $35,209.57. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,107,188.74. The trade was a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total value of $67,617.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,585.70. This represents a 23.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ashland

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Ashland by 6,127.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 880,459 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $76,574,000 after buying an additional 866,320 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 12.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,598,602 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $226,000,000 after acquiring an additional 284,215 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 2,060.5% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 179,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,802,000 after purchasing an additional 170,859 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 616.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 189,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,875,000 after purchasing an additional 162,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Ashland by 703.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 184,806 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,206,000 after purchasing an additional 161,812 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of ASH stock traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $71.54. The stock had a trading volume of 342,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 407,097. Ashland has a one year low of $68.14 and a one year high of $102.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $522.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $524.07 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 7.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ashland will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is 48.36%.

Ashland Company 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.