Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 12,307 Ashland Inc. $ASH

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 12,307 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $811,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 59.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ashland during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Ashland during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Ashland by 38.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in Ashland by 398.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ASH. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ashland from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Ashland from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ashland from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Ashland from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ashland from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.90.

Ashland Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of ASH opened at $73.52 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 64.49, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.40. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.29 and a 12 month high of $78.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $68.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.05. The company has a current ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 147.37%.

About Ashland

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.