Hantz Financial Services Inc. Purchases 23,319 Shares of Ashland Inc. $ASH

Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 196,080 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,319 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. owned approximately 0.43% of Ashland worth $9,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 226.4% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 899,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,009,000 after acquiring an additional 623,601 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 48.7% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,228,525 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,839,000 after acquiring an additional 402,286 shares during the period. Cooperman Leon G lifted its stake in Ashland by 16.6% during the first quarter. Cooperman Leon G now owns 1,694,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,446,000 after purchasing an additional 240,686 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its stake in Ashland by 5,452.8% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 175,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,384,000 after purchasing an additional 171,980 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in Ashland during the first quarter worth about $7,747,000. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ASH. Zacks Research downgraded Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Argus cut their price objective on Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Ashland from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Ashland from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ashland currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.43.

Ashland Stock Performance

Ashland stock opened at $48.69 on Friday. Ashland Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.21 and a 12-month high of $88.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.60, a P/E/G ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.32.

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

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.415 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Ashland’s payout ratio is presently -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.