Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $17.16 Million Stock Holdings in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 7.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 308,628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,288 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Ashland were worth $17,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ashland by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $105,668,000 after acquiring an additional 345,919 shares during the last quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ashland during the 4th quarter worth $10,342,000. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of Ashland during the 4th quarter valued at $9,974,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ashland during the 2nd quarter valued at $264,000. Finally, Comerica Bank lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 346.6% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 83,712 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,911,000 after purchasing an additional 64,968 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ASH. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ashland in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ashland from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ashland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ashland from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.30.

Ashland News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Ashland this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Activist settlement fuels strategic-action speculation. Ashland agreed to cooperate with Ancora Holdings, which has urged the specialty-chemicals company to consider strategic alternatives, including a potential sale. The agreement includes two independent directors and a Capital Allocation Advisory Committee, increasing expectations that Ashland could pursue measures to unlock shareholder value. A second activist, Cruiser Capital, has also advocated exploring a sale. Ashland announces appointment of two new directors as part of Cooperation Agreement with stockholder Ancora
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue and volumes exceeded expectations. Fiscal Q3 sales rose 7% year over year to $497 million, above consensus, while sales volumes increased 6% across all business units. Life Sciences sales grew 11% to $180 million, Personal Care increased 5% to $155 million, and Intermediates rose 12% to $37 million. Ashland reports third quarter 2026 results and reaffirms outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Cash generation and full-year targets remain intact. Operating cash flow reached $121 million and ongoing free cash flow was $103 million. Ashland reaffirmed fiscal 2026 sales guidance of $1.835 billion to $1.870 billion and adjusted EBITDA guidance of $385 million to $400 million.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment has improved. Following strong prior-quarter results, analysts maintained favorable ratings and raised some price targets, including targets of $72 and $75. However, the six-analyst median target of $63.50 is below recent trading levels, suggesting expectations are already elevated. Ashland Analysts Increase Their Forecasts After Strong Q2 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability remains a concern. Adjusted EPS of $1.02 narrowly missed consensus, adjusted EBITDA declined 4% to $109 million, and Ashland reduced its adjusted EPS growth outlook to low-to-mid-single-digit growth from mid-to-high-single-digit growth because of a higher tax rate. Specialty Additives and Intermediates earnings also fell.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of ASH opened at $73.20 on Thursday. 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 $63.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.02. Ashland Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.29 and a 52-week high of $74.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 64.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.41.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 8.01% and a net margin of 2.82%.The company had revenue of $482.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a positive change from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Ashland’s payout ratio is currently -10.89%.

Ashland 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.