Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 307,250 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Janus Henderson Group PLC lowered its stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 72.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,617 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 307,250 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned approximately 0.25% of Ashland worth $8,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ashland by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,928,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $352,221,000 after purchasing an additional 66,530 shares during the period. Eminence Capital LP raised its position in shares of Ashland by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 2,860,471 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $204,409,000 after purchasing an additional 212,916 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Ashland by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,818,695 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $201,423,000 after purchasing an additional 44,018 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Ashland by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,806,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $200,583,000 after purchasing an additional 208,320 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Ashland by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,022,580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $73,074,000 after purchasing an additional 142,121 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ASH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Ashland from $71.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Ashland from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Ashland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Ashland from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.60.

Ashland Stock Performance

ASH opened at $52.77 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.77. The company has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of -79.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.58. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.21 and a 1 year high of $102.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $479.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $514.79 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 1.12% and a positive return on equity of 7.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be issued a $0.415 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This is a boost from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. Ashland’s payout ratio is currently -69.17%.

About Ashland

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.