Brokerages Set Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Target Price at $67.67

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $67.6667.

ASH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Ashland from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ashland from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $61.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $63.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a research report on Monday, February 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 284.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $172,318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,555,585 shares in the last quarter. Standard Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ashland in the 3rd quarter worth $107,318,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 13,240.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,736,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $101,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,159 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 775.6% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,900,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,473,000 after buying an additional 1,682,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 1,080,682.0% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,437,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,335,000 after buying an additional 1,437,307 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ashland News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Ashland this week:

• Positive Sentiment: City breaks ground on a $100M wastewater treatment project — large municipal infrastructure spending can create opportunities for chemical and water-treatment suppliers, potentially benefiting specialty-chem firms if they win supply or service contracts. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Proposed 50% water rate hike for Ashland customers — significant for local consumers and municipal revenues, but its direct impact on Ashland Inc. (the company) is unclear and likely neutral unless it triggers new procurement for treatment or metering. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Local property transfers and small community events (real-estate sales, brewery brunch, Mt. Ashland reopening, high-school sports) — local economic/activity color but unlikely to move ASH shares materially. Read More., Read More., Read More., Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: City Hall deemed unsafe / staff evacuated after inspections — short-term disruption to municipal operations and permitting; could slow local project timelines (including the wastewater build) if inspections/administration remain constrained. Impact on ASH is likely indirect and limited. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Ranch fire kills hundreds of cattle — a local economic blow to agriculture and sentiment in the region, but unrelated to Ashland Inc.’s business fundamentals. Read More.

Ashland Stock Performance

ASH opened at $64.77 on Friday. Ashland has a 1 year low of $45.21 and a 1 year high of $66.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 3.15 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.36. The company has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a PE ratio of -4.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.43.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $386.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $401.42 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a positive return on equity of 7.58%. The business’s revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ashland will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be issued a $0.415 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -10.99%.

About Ashland

Ashland Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and supplies a broad range of performance and process-critical additives, ingredients and technologies. Its portfolio spans performance additives for coatings, adhesives and sealants; specialty ingredients for personal care and pharmaceutical applications; and process aids used in water treatment and other industrial processes. Ashland aims to address customer challenges by delivering tailored solutions that improve product performance, processing efficiency and sustainability outcomes.

Founded in 1924 as the Ashland Oil & Refining Company, the firm gradually expanded into the specialty chemicals sector over the second half of the 20th century.