Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.06 EPS

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06), Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $482.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.61 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 39.03% and a positive return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.99 EPS.

Ashland Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE ASH opened at $57.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Ashland has a 1-year low of $46.29 and a 1-year high of $65.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $55.06 and a 200-day moving average of $57.36. The company has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.72, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.40.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a boost from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Ashland’s payout ratio is -10.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ashland

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Ashland by 59.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Ashland by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in Ashland by 1.5% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 21,848 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ashland by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research cut Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Seaport Research Partners upgraded Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.78.

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.