SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 149,421 Shares of Ashland Inc. $ASH

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 66.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,411 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 149,421 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Ashland were worth $4,249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ASH. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 46,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 7,309 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in Ashland by 6.3% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ashland by 49.4% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 284,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,865,000 after acquiring an additional 94,067 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Ashland by 1.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 387,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,953,000 after purchasing an additional 6,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Ashland by 10.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 152,830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,061,000 after purchasing an additional 13,989 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE:ASH opened at $64.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 3.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a PE ratio of -4.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.43. Ashland Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.29 and a 52-week high of $68.25.

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

Ashland Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -10.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ashland from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Argus reduced their target price on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.67.

Ashland Company 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.