Ashland Inc. (ASH) To Go Ex-Dividend on September 1st

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of 0.42 per share by the basic materials company on Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st.

Ashland has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. Ashland has a payout ratio of 35.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Ashland to earn $4.23 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.7%.

Ashland Trading Up 0.4%

ASH opened at $74.21 on Friday. Ashland has a 12-month low of $46.29 and a 12-month high of $78.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 3.05 and a quick ratio of 1.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 65.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $69.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.68.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASH. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Ashland by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $105,668,000 after purchasing an additional 345,919 shares during the period. Thames Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ashland in the fourth quarter valued at $10,342,000. ING Groep NV bought a new position in Ashland during the fourth quarter valued at about $9,974,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Ashland by 7.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 308,628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,163,000 after acquiring an additional 22,288 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ashland in the 2nd quarter valued at about $264,000. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Company Profile

Ashland Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and supplies a broad range of performance and process-critical additives, ingredients and technologies. Its portfolio spans performance additives for coatings, adhesives and sealants; specialty ingredients for personal care and pharmaceutical applications; and process aids used in water treatment and other industrial processes. Ashland aims to address customer challenges by delivering tailored solutions that improve product performance, processing efficiency and sustainability outcomes.

Founded in 1924 as the Ashland Oil & Refining Company, the firm gradually expanded into the specialty chemicals sector over the second half of the 20th century.