Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 14,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,214,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ashland by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 265,544 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,545,000 after buying an additional 34,575 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in Ashland in the 4th quarter worth about $286,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ashland by 157.6% in the 4th quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 198,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,699,000 after purchasing an additional 121,161 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Ashland by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,671,593 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $140,932,000 after purchasing an additional 256,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its position in Ashland by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 689,517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $58,133,000 after purchasing an additional 21,667 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Stock Down 0.4 %

ASH stock opened at $95.63 on Tuesday. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.82 and a 12 month high of $103.43. The firm has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of 31.35 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 3.30 and a quick ratio of 1.88.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.24. Ashland had a net margin of 7.62% and a return on equity of 5.95%. The business had revenue of $473.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $478.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ashland from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Ashland in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Ashland from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.00.

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.