Analysts Set Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Target Price at $62.67

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.6667.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on Ashland from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Zacks Research lowered Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Argus lowered their price objective on Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ashland

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Ashland by 18.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 46,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 7,309 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ashland by 49.4% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 284,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,865,000 after purchasing an additional 94,067 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ashland by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 387,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,953,000 after purchasing an additional 6,245 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Ashland by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 152,830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,061,000 after buying an additional 13,989 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Price Performance

ASH opened at $66.73 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.33, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 3.06. Ashland has a fifty-two week low of $46.29 and a fifty-two week high of $68.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.23 and a 200 day moving average of $58.92.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $482.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Ashland will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This is an increase from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is currently -10.89%.

Ashland Company Profile

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.