Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.41

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 7th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.405 per share by the basic materials company on Saturday, June 15th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This is an increase from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39.

Ashland has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Ashland has a payout ratio of 28.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ashland to earn $5.59 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.62 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.0%.

Ashland Price Performance

NYSE:ASH traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $98.07. 226,565 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 438,088. The company has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.94 and a beta of 0.92. Ashland has a 1-year low of $70.82 and a 1-year high of $99.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 3.15 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $95.87 and a 200 day moving average of $87.36.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $575.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $574.64 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 9.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Ashland will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ashland from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ashland from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. TheStreet raised Ashland from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Ashland in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.44.

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.