Hantz Financial Services Inc. Purchases 23,319 Shares of Ashland Inc. $ASH

Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 13.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 196,080 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,319 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $9,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cooperman Leon G raised its position in shares of Ashland by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Cooperman Leon G now owns 1,694,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $100,446,000 after acquiring an additional 240,686 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ashland by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,683,627 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $99,822,000 after acquiring an additional 115,811 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Ashland by 48.7% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,228,525 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,839,000 after acquiring an additional 402,286 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ashland by 226.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 899,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,009,000 after purchasing an additional 623,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Ashland by 4.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 522,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,955,000 after purchasing an additional 24,478 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Price Performance

NYSE ASH opened at $48.69 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.32. Ashland Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.21 and a 52-week high of $88.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.68. The stock has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.60, a PEG ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 0.49.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 9th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 6.82% and a negative net margin of 46.01%.The business had revenue of $509.00 million during the quarter. Ashland has set its FY 2022 guidance at EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.415 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is -8.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ASH. Argus dropped their price objective on Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Ashland from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ashland from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Ashland in a research note on Monday, September 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ashland currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.43.

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.