Alesco Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Alesco Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,639 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $981,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASH. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Ashland by 139.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,414,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $115,558,000 after acquiring an additional 824,600 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 33.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,260,333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $184,624,000 after buying an additional 560,916 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ashland during the third quarter valued at approximately $22,880,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 14.6% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,953,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $159,522,000 after buying an additional 248,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 157.6% during the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 198,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,699,000 after buying an additional 121,161 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:ASH traded up $0.86 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $96.06. The stock had a trading volume of 252,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 445,712. Ashland Inc. has a one year low of $70.82 and a one year high of $101.94. The company has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $95.25 and a 200 day moving average of $86.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 3.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $473.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $478.69 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.95% and a net margin of 7.62%. Ashland’s revenue was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ashland from $70.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. TheStreet raised Ashland from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com raised Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wolfe Research began coverage on Ashland in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Ashland from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.00.

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.