Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH – Free Report) by 13,240.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,736,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,723,159 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $101,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 182,267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,732,000 after buying an additional 61,673 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ashland in the 3rd quarter valued at $10,397,000. Standard Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ashland in the 3rd quarter valued at $107,318,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 92.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 147,482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,066,000 after buying an additional 71,044 shares during the period. Finally, Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC now owns 199,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,552,000 after buying an additional 57,402 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.
Key Stories Impacting Ashland
Here are the key news stories impacting Ashland this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Ancora’s push for a sale of Ashland has created a potential catalyst for shareholders by highlighting the possibility of a value-maximizing transaction.
- Positive Sentiment: Ashland said it will engage with Ancora and emphasized its commitment to sustainable value creation, which may ease investor concerns about a drawn-out activist fight. Ashland responds to investor presentation by Ancora Alternatives LLC
- Neutral Sentiment: The company reiterated its growth strategy around globalization, innovation, operational performance, and cash generation, reinforcing its existing long-term plan rather than announcing new financial guidance.
- Negative Sentiment: Zacks added ASH to its Strong Sell list, which could weigh on sentiment by signaling caution from at least one research source. New Strong Sell Stocks for June 10th
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Ashland Stock Up 3.9%
Shares of ASH stock opened at $64.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 3.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $56.38 and its 200-day moving average is $57.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.21, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.43. Ashland Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.29 and a 52-week high of $67.20.
Ashland (NYSE:ASH – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $482.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.61 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 39.03% and a positive return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.
Ashland Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. This is an increase from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Ashland’s payout ratio is currently -10.89%.
Ashland Profile
Ashland Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and supplies a broad range of performance and process-critical additives, ingredients and technologies. Its portfolio spans performance additives for coatings, adhesives and sealants; specialty ingredients for personal care and pharmaceutical applications; and process aids used in water treatment and other industrial processes. Ashland aims to address customer challenges by delivering tailored solutions that improve product performance, processing efficiency and sustainability outcomes.
Founded in 1924 as the Ashland Oil & Refining Company, the firm gradually expanded into the specialty chemicals sector over the second half of the 20th century.
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