University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. Has $1.29 Million Holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 335.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,611 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,487 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $1,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in Ashland by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,295 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $681,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 122.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Ashland by 3.8% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its holdings in Ashland by 5.8% in the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in Ashland by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 21,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,773,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com cut Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ashland currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.50.

Ashland Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE ASH opened at $85.95 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.55. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.82 and a 12 month high of $102.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.88.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. Ashland had a net margin of 7.01% and a return on equity of 5.98%. The company had revenue of $544.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.08 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.97%.

Ashland Profile

Ashland Inc provides additives and specialty ingredients in the North and Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; and nutraceutical solutions comprising products for weight management, joint comfort, stomach and intestinal health, sports nutrition, and general wellness, as well as custom formulation, toll processing, and particle engineering solutions.