Ashland (NYSE:ASH) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share on Friday, March 15th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 13th.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ASH shares. Analysts at JPMorgan Chase cut their price target on shares of Ashland from $74.00 to $70.00 in a research note to investors on Wednesday. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock. On a related note, analysts at Hilliard Lyons downgraded shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note to investors on Friday, January 11th. They now have a $85.00 price target on the stock. Finally, analysts at Jefferies Group raised their price target on shares of Ashland from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research note to investors on Wednesday, January 2nd. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.

Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, one has issued an overweight rating, and two have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “buy” and a consensus target price of $91.78.

Shares of Ashland (ASH) traded down 0.23% during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $78.51. Ashland (ASH) has a 52 week low of $58.54 and a 52 week high of $86.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $82.. The company has a market cap of $6.188 billion and a P/E ratio of 238.45.

Ashland last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 29th. The company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Ashland (ASH) will post $7.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Inc. (Ashland) business consists of four commercial units: Ashland Specialty Ingredients; Ashland Water Technologies; Ashland Performance Materials, and Ashland Consumer Markets (Valvoline).

Get Analysts' Upgrades and Downgrades via Email - Stay on top of analysts' coverage with Analyst Ratings Network's FREE daily email newsletter that provides a concise list of analysts' upgrades and downgrades. Click here to register now.