Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Takes Position in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 9,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Ashland by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 46,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 7,309 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in Ashland by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Ashland by 49.4% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 284,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,865,000 after purchasing an additional 94,067 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 1.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 387,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,953,000 after buying an additional 6,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 10.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 152,830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,061,000 after buying an additional 13,989 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on ASH shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Ashland from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ashland from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ashland from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ashland in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.90.

Ashland Trading Up 0.2%

ASH stock opened at $72.97 on Friday. Ashland Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.29 and a 12-month high of $78.25. The business’s 50-day moving average is $68.88 and its 200 day moving average is $61.29. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.01, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.40.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 147.37%.

Ashland 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.