Arizona State Retirement System Acquires 540 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 12th, 2023

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH – Get Rating) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,513 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 540 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Ashland were worth $1,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ASH. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of Ashland by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 13,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,430,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in shares of Ashland by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 12,639 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ashland by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Ashland by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 9,756 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, PFS Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Ashland by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. PFS Investments Inc. now owns 2,268 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. 92.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Ashland stock opened at $87.19 on Friday. Ashland Inc. has a 12-month low of $86.64 and a 12-month high of $114.36. The stock has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.32 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business’s 50 day moving average is $98.93 and its 200-day moving average is $104.42.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.09). Ashland had a return on equity of 9.66% and a net margin of 9.32%. The company had revenue of $603.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $627.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.385 per share. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is a boost from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ASH. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Ashland from $139.00 to $129.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Ashland from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $104.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Ashland in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Ashland from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Ashland from $145.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ashland presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.25.

About Ashland

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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.