Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 1,148 Shares of Ashland Inc. $ASH

Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 24.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,819 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,148 shares during the quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ashland were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Ashland by 212.4% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ashland by 2,736.0% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 709 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management bought a new position in Ashland in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Ashland by 63.9% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 834 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Ashland by 93.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,155 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on Ashland from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ashland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Ashland from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.57.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE:ASH opened at $47.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Ashland Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.21 and a 12-month high of $88.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.54, a P/E/G ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.49.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 9th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 6.82% and a negative net margin of 46.01%.The firm had revenue of $509.00 million during the quarter. Ashland has set its FY 2022 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.415 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -8.86%.

About Ashland

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.