VELA Investment Management LLC Sells 14,032 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

VELA Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 22.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,496 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 14,032 shares during the period. Ashland accounts for about 1.6% of VELA Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ashland were worth $4,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ashland by 9.8% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 3,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Ashland by 17.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,917 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ashland by 4.2% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,523 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Ashland by 3.2% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 8,142 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $801,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ashland by 25.0% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 34,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,366,000 after acquiring an additional 6,835 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ASH shares. TheStreet raised shares of Ashland from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ashland from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $112.00 in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Ashland in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $108.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.00.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of ASH traded down $1.66 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $93.57. 361,885 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 458,078. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $94.56 and a 200-day moving average of $85.21. Ashland Inc. has a one year low of $70.82 and a one year high of $105.15. The firm has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.88 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 3.30 and a quick ratio of 1.88.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $473.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $478.69 million. Ashland had a net margin of 7.62% and a return on equity of 5.95%. Ashland’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.385 per share. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Ashland’s payout ratio is currently 50.49%.

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.