Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Purchases Shares of 21,173 Ashland Inc. $ASH

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 21,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,014,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Ashland by 95.2% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 1,730 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 6.5% during the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 4,842 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ashland in the third quarter worth approximately $221,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in Ashland in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,067,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in Ashland by 4.8% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 42,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,056,000 after purchasing an additional 1,986 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Ashland from $62.00 to $53.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Argus increased their price objective on Ashland from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Ashland from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.13.

Ashland Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE ASH opened at $61.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of -3.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.43. Ashland Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.21 and a 1-year high of $67.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $59.63 and a 200-day moving average of $54.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.85, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $477.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $481.97 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.07% and a negative net margin of 46.25%.Ashland’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 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 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.05%.

About Ashland

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.