Harbour Investments Inc. Has $259,000 Holdings in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Harbour Investments Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 14.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,978 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 489 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Ashland were worth $259,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Equitable Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 2.2% during the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 6,431 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in Ashland by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,295 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $681,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Ashland by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VELA Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 0.5% in the second quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 50,251 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,748,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ashland Stock Down 1.4 %

ASH stock opened at $76.96 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $84.99 and a 200-day moving average of $90.87. Ashland Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.90 and a fifty-two week high of $102.50. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.44.

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

Ashland Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ASH shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of 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 decreased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.