Empyrean Capital Partners LP Makes New Investment in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 542,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,799,000. Ashland comprises about 1.1% of Empyrean Capital Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Empyrean Capital Partners LP owned 1.18% of Ashland at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Concentric Capital Strategies LP bought a new stake in Ashland during the 4th quarter worth approximately $16,599,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ashland by 6,371.1% during the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 310,677 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,227,000 after acquiring an additional 305,876 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Ashland by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 9,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 1,402 shares during the last quarter. Jain Global LLC bought a new stake in Ashland during the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,082,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Ashland by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 35,816 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,485 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:ASH opened at $64.45 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $57.40 and its 200-day moving average is $58.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 3.06. Ashland Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.29 and a 52 week high of $67.20. The firm has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.43.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). Ashland had a negative net margin of 39.03% and a positive return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $482.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This is a boost from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is presently -10.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ASH. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.67.

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.