Leisure Capital Management Sells 2,973 Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Leisure Capital Management lowered its stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) by 22.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,462 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,973 shares during the period. Leisure Capital Management’s holdings in Ashland were worth $882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Ashland by 33.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,260,333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $184,624,000 after acquiring an additional 560,916 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,953,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $159,522,000 after buying an additional 248,591 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,671,593 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $140,932,000 after buying an additional 256,828 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,404,550 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $114,724,000 after buying an additional 29,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 689,517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $58,133,000 after buying an additional 21,667 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of ASH traded up $0.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $96.06. The company had a trading volume of 252,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 304,569. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $95.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 3.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50 and a beta of 0.92. Ashland Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.82 and a 52-week high of $101.94.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.24. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.95% and a net margin of 7.62%. The business had revenue of $473.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $478.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. Ashland’s revenue was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ASH. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $100.00 to $126.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ashland from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $100.00 to $112.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. TheStreet upgraded shares of Ashland from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ashland from $70.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.00.

Ashland 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.