Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $213,000 in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)

Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 4,725 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Ashland by 122.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. increased its stake in Ashland by 4.1% in the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 4,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 43.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ashland from $70.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Ashland in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ashland from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Ashland from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.00.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of Ashland stock traded up $0.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $96.06. 252,676 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 304,569. The company has a current ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The business has a 50-day moving average of $95.25 and a 200-day moving average of $86.08. Ashland Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.82 and a 1 year high of $101.94. 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 (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.24. Ashland had a net margin of 7.62% and a return on equity of 5.95%. The company had revenue of $473.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $478.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. Ashland’s quarterly revenue was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.