The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Takes $2.77 Million Position in Ashland Inc. $ASH

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 42,021 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,769,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Ashland during the 2nd quarter worth about $376,376,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ashland by 284.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $172,318,000 after buying an additional 2,555,585 shares during the last quarter. Standard Investments LLC boosted its position in Ashland by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Standard Investments LLC now owns 2,625,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $154,009,000 after buying an additional 385,000 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Ashland by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,496,021 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $138,793,000 after purchasing an additional 267,741 shares during the period. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 775.6% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,900,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $111,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,994 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ashland Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of Ashland stock opened at $75.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of 66.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.39. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.29 and a 1 year high of $78.25. The company has a current ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $70.02 and its 200 day moving average is $61.85.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Ashland’s payout ratio is presently 147.37%.

Key Ashland News

Here are the key news stories impacting Ashland this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Ashland will host an Innovation Day webcast on September 17 for analysts and investors. Management plans to discuss its technology platforms, commercial progress, scalability and expanding opportunities in personal care, life sciences, intermediates and specialty additives. The event could provide a near-term catalyst if executives outline credible growth initiatives, innovation-related revenue opportunities or improved returns on research spending. Ashland to host Innovation Day for analysts and investors
• Neutral Sentiment: The webcast will include presentations from CEO Guillermo Novo, CFO William Whitaker and other senior executives, followed by investor Q&A. While the event signals management engagement and confidence in Ashland’s innovation pipeline, the announcement contains no new earnings forecast, contract, product launch or specific financial targets. The market may therefore wait for more concrete details before assigning a higher valuation.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation remains a risk after the recent advance. Ashland’s reported P/E ratio is approximately 66, while the cited analyst median price target of $65 is below the recent trading level around $75.57. If Innovation Day fails to demonstrate sufficient growth or profitability improvements, investors could question whether the current premium valuation is justified.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Ashland from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ashland from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seaport Research Partners upgraded Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ashland from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ashland from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.90.

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.