Krilogy Financial LLC Makes New $517,000 Investment in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Krilogy Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 10,199 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $517,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ASH. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Ashland in the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Ashland during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 50.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 5,229 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ashland in the 3rd quarter valued at $278,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Ashland by 250.2% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 53,638 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,570,000 after buying an additional 38,320 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASH opened at $60.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 3.15 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.21 and a 1 year high of $67.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of -4.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.43. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $61.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.95.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.03. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.58% and a negative net margin of 38.26%.The company had revenue of $386.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $401.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.415 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is currently -10.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ASH. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $63.00 price target on Ashland in a report on Monday, February 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Ashland from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Ashland from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ashland currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.67.

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.