BlackRock Inc. Invests $376.38 Million in Ashland Inc. $ASH

BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 5,712,189 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,376,000. BlackRock Inc. owned 0.12% of Ashland at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ashland by 284.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $172,318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,555,585 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 13,240.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,736,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $101,861,000 after buying an additional 1,723,159 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 775.6% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,900,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,473,000 after buying an additional 1,682,994 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor acquired a new stake in shares of Ashland during the second quarter worth about $105,471,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 1,080,682.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,437,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,335,000 after buying an additional 1,437,307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ASH shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ashland from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ashland in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ashland from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ashland from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ashland from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.90.

Ashland Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of ASH stock opened at $73.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 3.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Ashland Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.29 and a fifty-two week high of $78.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.45.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Ashland’s payout ratio is presently 147.37%.

Ashland Company 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.