Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Makes New Investment in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $575,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ashland by 2,736.0% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 709 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 212.4% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 63.9% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 834 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ashland by 285.7% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Ashland by 1,745.8% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 1,257 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ashland from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Ashland from $71.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ashland from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ashland presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.60.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ASH opened at $53.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.86, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.49. Ashland Inc. has a one year low of $45.21 and a one year high of $90.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.11). Ashland had a negative net margin of 46.01% and a positive return on equity of 6.82%. The business had revenue of $463.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $479.34 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.49 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.415 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Ashland’s payout ratio is presently -8.86%.

Ashland Company 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.