Ergoteles LLC Acquires New Holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Feb 27th, 2023

Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH – Get Rating) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $905,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. PFS Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 4.7% during the third quarter. PFS Investments Inc. now owns 2,268 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 2.3% during the third quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 133,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,718,000 after acquiring an additional 3,017 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 640.1% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 23,682 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 20,482 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 7.2% during the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 262,195 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,901,000 after acquiring an additional 17,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 13.1% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,001 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $475,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ashland from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Ashland from $141.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ashland from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Ashland from $120.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ashland currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.13.

Ashland Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:ASH opened at $102.25 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 3.72, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.83. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $83.29 and a 12 month high of $114.36.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $525.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $516.58 million. Ashland had a net margin of 38.23% and a return on equity of 9.82%. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 28th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.32%.

Ashland Profile

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Ashland, Inc engages in the provision of architectural coatings, construction, energy, food and beverage, nutraceuticals, personal care, and pharmaceutical. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences, Personal Care, Special Additives, and Intermediates. The company was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Wilmington, DE.