Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. Has $8.02 Million Stock Holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH – Get Rating) by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 84,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 10,530 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. owned 0.16% of Ashland worth $8,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eminence Capital LP increased its position in Ashland by 1.2% in the second quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 4,083,978 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $420,854,000 after purchasing an additional 48,800 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 5.4% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,260,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $214,700,000 after buying an additional 115,858 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Ashland by 3.4% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,043,155 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $210,547,000 after buying an additional 67,631 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in Ashland by 1.2% in the third quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,857,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $176,392,000 after acquiring an additional 21,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Ashland by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,762,930 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $167,425,000 after acquiring an additional 33,518 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Stock Down 2.4 %

Ashland stock opened at $95.36 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $105.37 and a 200-day moving average of $104.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Ashland Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.89 and a twelve month high of $114.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a PE ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 1.00.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.02. Ashland had a net margin of 38.23% and a return on equity of 9.82%. The firm had revenue of $525.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $516.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 1st were given a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 28th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ASH. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ashland from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Ashland from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $104.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ashland from $118.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $141.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ashland from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.13.

About Ashland

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Ashland, Inc engages in the provision of architectural coatings, construction, energy, food and beverage, nutraceuticals, personal care, and pharmaceutical. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences, Personal Care, Special Additives, and Intermediates. The company was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Wilmington, DE.