D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Purchases 48,010 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 31.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 202,685 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 48,010 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $14,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Ashland by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 517,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,964,000 after buying an additional 7,709 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Ashland by 703.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 184,806 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,206,000 after acquiring an additional 161,812 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Ashland by 29.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 171,636 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,265,000 after purchasing an additional 39,392 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Ashland by 323.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 71,689 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,236,000 after purchasing an additional 54,745 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Ashland by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,022,580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $73,074,000 after purchasing an additional 142,121 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ASH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Ashland from $71.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ashland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Ashland from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Mizuho set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Ashland from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.60.

Ashland Stock Performance

Ashland stock opened at $52.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -79.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Ashland Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.21 and a 12-month high of $102.50.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.11). Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.41% and a negative net margin of 1.12%. The company had revenue of $479.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $514.79 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.415 per share. This is an increase from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is currently -69.17%.

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.