SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires 170,859 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 2,060.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 179,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 170,859 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Ashland were worth $12,802,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Ashland by 2.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,763 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,295 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $681,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Ashland by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 87,603 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,278,000 after buying an additional 4,189 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its position in Ashland by 8.5% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 15,003 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,418,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Ashland during the second quarter valued at approximately $194,000. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ashland

In other 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 value of $67,617.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Eric N. Boni sold 451 shares of Ashland stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.07, for a total value of $35,209.57. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,107,188.74. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ashland Stock Up 1.9 %

Ashland stock opened at $71.94 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.84. 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 has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.47, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.87. Ashland Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.14 and a fifty-two week high of $102.50.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $522.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $524.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. Ashland’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Ashland from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued 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 Profile

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.