Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Receives $62.78 Average PT from Analysts

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.7778.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Argus lowered their target price on Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Seaport Research Partners upgraded Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price objective on Ashland in a research report on Monday, May 4th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 3,673.3% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 59.0% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Ashland in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ashland in the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Ashland in the third quarter valued at about $57,000. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ashland Price Performance

NYSE ASH opened at $57.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of -3.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 3.06. The business’s fifty day moving average is $55.82 and its 200 day moving average is $57.59. Ashland has a fifty-two week low of $46.29 and a fifty-two week high of $65.64.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $482.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $485.61 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 39.03% and a positive return on equity of 8.06%. Ashland’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Ashland will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -10.89%.

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.