Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 198,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,913 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC owned about 0.41% of Ashland worth $17,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ASH. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Ashland by 193.1% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 610.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Ashland by 133.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 650 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ashland by 8,211.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares during the period. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ashland in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $71,000. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com lowered Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.57.

Ashland Trading Down 1.4 %

ASH stock opened at $76.96 on Friday. Ashland Inc. has a one year low of $75.90 and a one year high of $102.50. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $84.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.44.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.02). Ashland had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 7.95%. The business had revenue of $522.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $524.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.36%.

Ashland Company 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.