Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 5,883 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,071 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,883 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ashland were worth $3,833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ASH. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Ashland by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,314,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $218,686,000 after purchasing an additional 198,913 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 616.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 189,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,875,000 after acquiring an additional 162,776 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ashland during the 2nd quarter valued at $14,346,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,806,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $175,864,000 after acquiring an additional 149,483 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 407.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 139,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,202,000 after acquiring an additional 112,169 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group cut their target price on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.57.

Ashland Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ASH opened at $77.49 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.15. Ashland Inc. has a 12-month low of $74.05 and a 12-month high of $102.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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

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.