Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Cuts Position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board reduced its stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 26,418 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 19,670 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Ashland were worth $2,298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ASH. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Ashland during the third quarter worth about $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Ashland by 193.1% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 610.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 133.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 650 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ashland in the 2nd quarter valued at about $71,000. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ashland Stock Performance

Ashland stock opened at $76.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $84.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Ashland Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.48 and a 52 week high of $102.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.88.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.02). Ashland had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The company had revenue of $522.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ashland news, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total transaction of $67,617.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,883 shares in the company, valued at $224,585.70. This represents a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASH has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Ashland from $92.00 to $83.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com lowered Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.29.

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.