Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Short Interest Up 10.9% in December

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,220,000 shares, an increase of 10.9% from the December 15th total of 1,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 422,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Activity at Ashland

In other Ashland news, VP Eric N. Boni sold 451 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.07, for a total value of $35,209.57. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,107,188.74. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total transaction of $67,617.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,585.70. This trade represents a 23.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 105.1% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 119,135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,513,000 after acquiring an additional 61,058 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Ashland during the third quarter valued at $3,134,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Ashland by 2.3% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 671,948 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $63,492,000 after buying an additional 14,938 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Ashland by 138.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 120,741 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,501,000 after acquiring an additional 70,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ashland during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,442,000. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ASH shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Ashland from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.00.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASH traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $71.54. 342,657 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 407,097. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.44. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.29. Ashland has a 52 week low of $68.14 and a 52 week high of $102.50. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.87.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.02). Ashland had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 7.95%. The business had revenue of $522.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ashland will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Ashland’s payout ratio is presently 48.36%.

About Ashland

Ashland Inc provides additives and specialty ingredients in the North and Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; and nutraceutical solutions comprising products for weight management, joint comfort, stomach and intestinal health, sports nutrition, and general wellness, as well as custom formulation, toll processing, and particle engineering solutions.