Brokerages Set Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Price Target at $101.00

Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $101.00.

ASH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $100.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Ashland in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Ashland from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASH. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 139.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,414,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $115,558,000 after purchasing an additional 824,600 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 33.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,260,333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $184,624,000 after purchasing an additional 560,916 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 274.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 495,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,797,000 after purchasing an additional 363,328 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ashland during the third quarter worth approximately $22,880,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,656,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $139,673,000 after purchasing an additional 252,104 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE:ASH opened at $95.63 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $95.00 and its 200-day moving average is $85.83. Ashland has a 52-week low of $70.82 and a 52-week high of $103.43. 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 company has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.35 and a beta of 0.92.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $478.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ashland will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

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.