StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Ashford (NYSEAMERICAN:AINC)

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Ashford (NYSEAMERICAN:AINC – Get Rating) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday. The firm set a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Ashford Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSEAMERICAN AINC opened at $12.35 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.30 and a beta of 2.00. Ashford has a twelve month low of $11.40 and a twelve month high of $19.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.55.

Ashford (NYSEAMERICAN:AINC – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.49. Ashford had a net margin of 1.60% and a negative return on equity of 21.27%. The firm had revenue of $178.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.58 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ashford will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ashford

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ashford by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ashford by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,400,000 after purchasing an additional 4,314 shares during the period. Finally, Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in Ashford by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 119,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. 14.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ashford

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Ashford, Inc engages in the provision of asset management, advisory services and other products and services primarily to clients in the hospitality industry. The firm operates through following business segments: REIT Advisory, Remington, Premier, JSAV, OpenKey, and Corporate & Other. The REIT Advisory segment provides asset management and advisory services to other entities.