Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Shares Acquired by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank increased its position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH – Get Rating) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 124,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Ashland were worth $13,355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Ashland by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,260,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $214,700,000 after acquiring an additional 115,858 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its holdings in Ashland by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,857,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $176,392,000 after buying an additional 21,482 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $167,425,000 after buying an additional 33,518 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Ashland by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,645,262 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $156,251,000 after buying an additional 8,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ashland by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,354,749 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $133,321,000 after buying an additional 111,135 shares during the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their target price on Ashland from $139.00 to $129.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Ashland from $135.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Ashland from $145.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Ashland in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Ashland from $110.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.25.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of Ashland stock opened at $90.36 on Friday. Ashland Inc. has a twelve month low of $86.64 and a twelve month high of $114.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $98.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.35.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.09). Ashland had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 9.66%. The business had revenue of $603.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $627.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. Ashland’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 1st will be paid a $0.385 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 31st. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. This is a positive change from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.76%.

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.