State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $1.95 Million Position in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 18.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,388 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,472 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Ashland were worth $1,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Ashland by 193.1% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Ashland by 610.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Ashland by 133.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 650 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ashland by 8,211.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ashland in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE ASH opened at $76.96 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.87. Ashland Inc. has a one year low of $75.90 and a one year high of $102.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.33.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.02). Ashland had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The firm had revenue of $522.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.07 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com cut Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.57.

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.