Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Sells 2,554 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 0.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,927,424 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,554 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $182,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ASH. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 274.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 495,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,797,000 after acquiring an additional 363,328 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,656,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $139,673,000 after acquiring an additional 252,104 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ashland in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $14,346,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 407.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 139,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,202,000 after acquiring an additional 112,169 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 429,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,727,000 after acquiring an additional 106,417 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ASH. StockNews.com downgraded Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. 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. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.50.

Ashland Price Performance

Ashland stock opened at $86.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $4.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $89.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.28. Ashland Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.82 and a 52 week high of $102.50.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $544.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.08 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 7.01%. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Ashland’s payout ratio is currently 42.97%.

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.