BMO Capital Markets Upgrades Ashland (NYSE:ASH) to Strong-Buy

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) was upgraded by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 target price on Ashland in a report on Monday, May 4th. Mizuho upped their price target on Ashland from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Seaport Research Partners raised Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ashland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.30.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of ASH stock opened at $73.20 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 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 one year low of $46.29 and a one year high of $74.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is $63.98 and its 200 day moving average is $60.02.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $482.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $485.61 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 8.01% and a net margin of 2.82%.Ashland’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Ashland will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 284.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $172,318,000 after buying an additional 2,555,585 shares in the last quarter. Standard Investments LLC boosted its stake in Ashland by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Standard Investments LLC now owns 2,625,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $154,009,000 after buying an additional 385,000 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 12.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,496,021 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $138,793,000 after purchasing an additional 267,741 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 775.6% in 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, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $105,668,000 after buying an additional 345,919 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Ashland

Here are the key news stories impacting Ashland this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Activist settlement fuels strategic-action speculation. Ashland agreed to cooperate with Ancora Holdings, which has urged the specialty-chemicals company to consider strategic alternatives, including a potential sale. The agreement includes two independent directors and a Capital Allocation Advisory Committee, increasing expectations that Ashland could pursue measures to unlock shareholder value. A second activist, Cruiser Capital, has also advocated exploring a sale. Ashland announces appointment of two new directors as part of Cooperation Agreement with stockholder Ancora
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue and volumes exceeded expectations. Fiscal Q3 sales rose 7% year over year to $497 million, above consensus, while sales volumes increased 6% across all business units. Life Sciences sales grew 11% to $180 million, Personal Care increased 5% to $155 million, and Intermediates rose 12% to $37 million. Ashland reports third quarter 2026 results and reaffirms outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Cash generation and full-year targets remain intact. Operating cash flow reached $121 million and ongoing free cash flow was $103 million. Ashland reaffirmed fiscal 2026 sales guidance of $1.835 billion to $1.870 billion and adjusted EBITDA guidance of $385 million to $400 million.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment has improved. Following strong prior-quarter results, analysts maintained favorable ratings and raised some price targets, including targets of $72 and $75. However, the six-analyst median target of $63.50 is below recent trading levels, suggesting expectations are already elevated. Ashland Analysts Increase Their Forecasts After Strong Q2 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability remains a concern. Adjusted EPS of $1.02 narrowly missed consensus, adjusted EBITDA declined 4% to $109 million, and Ashland reduced its adjusted EPS growth outlook to low-to-mid-single-digit growth from mid-to-high-single-digit growth because of a higher tax rate. Specialty Additives and Intermediates earnings also fell.

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.