Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys 1,682,994 Shares of Ashland Inc. $ASH

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 775.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,900,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,682,994 shares during the period. Ashland accounts for about 0.6% of Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned about 4.15% of Ashland worth $111,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in Ashland by 3,673.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Ashland by 59.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Ashland during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Ashland during the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in Ashland during the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ASH. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on Ashland in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ashland currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.78.

Ashland Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of ASH stock opened at $57.20 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.40. Ashland Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.29 and a twelve month high of $65.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 3.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.08.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $482.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.61 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 8.06% and a negative net margin of 39.03%.The company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is presently -10.77%.

Ashland 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.