PEAK6 LLC Acquires New Shares in Ashland Inc. $ASH

PEAK6 LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 40,448 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,665,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 59.0% in the second 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. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ashland during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Ashland during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 raised 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on ASH. UBS Group upped their price target on Ashland from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ashland from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research raised Ashland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho upped their price target on Ashland from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ashland from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.90.

Ashland Trading Up 0.4%

ASH opened at $72.97 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $68.88 and a 200 day moving average of $61.29. Ashland Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.29 and a 12 month high of $78.25.

Ashland Announces Dividend

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

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.