Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 98,023 Shares of Ashland Inc. $ASH

Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 47.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 108,990 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 98,023 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.24% of Ashland worth $5,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,215 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 6.3% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ashland by 59.0% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Ashland by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in Ashland by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,388 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $522,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE ASH opened at $66.56 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.79. Ashland Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.29 and a 12-month high of $69.66. The company has a current ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.32, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.41.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $482.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.61 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 8.06% and a negative net margin of 39.03%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is an increase from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -10.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on ASH. Zacks Research upgraded Ashland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Seaport Research Partners raised shares of Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a report on Friday, May 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.78.

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.