Kera Capital Partners Inc. Takes Position in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Kera Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $463,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its stake in Ashland by 3,673.3% during the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ashland by 59.0% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Ashland in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Ashland in the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 398.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ashland Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:ASH opened at $67.89 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.40, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 3.06. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.29 and a 1 year high of $67.97. The business has a fifty day moving average of $57.90 and a 200-day moving average of $58.55.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $482.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.61 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 39.03% and a positive return on equity of 8.06%. Ashland’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a positive change from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Ashland’s payout ratio is presently -10.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ASH shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Argus decreased their target price on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ashland from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.67.

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.