Penn Capital Management Company LLC Cuts Stake in Ashland Inc. $ASH

Penn Capital Management Company LLC cut its position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 70.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,947 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 33,618 shares during the quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC’s holdings in Ashland were worth $919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ashland during the second quarter valued at approximately $376,376,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ashland by 284.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,555,585 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ashland by 648,370.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,945,412 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $128,183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,945,112 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Ashland by 13,240.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,736,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $101,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ashland by 775.6% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,900,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $111,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,994 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Stock Up 0.4%

Ashland stock opened at $74.21 on Friday. Ashland Inc. has a one year low of $46.29 and a one year high of $78.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $69.68 and a 200 day moving average of $61.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 3.05. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 65.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.40.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ashland from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ashland from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Seaport Research Partners upgraded shares of Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ashland in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.90.

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.