Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Stock

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $50.00 to $70.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would suggest a potential downside of 3.43% from the company’s current price.

ASH has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research raised Ashland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ashland from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ashland in a report on Friday. Finally, Seaport Research Partners upgraded Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.40.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASH traded down $0.21 on Friday, reaching $72.48. 56,898 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 839,046. The company has a fifty day moving average of $64.31 and a 200-day moving average of $60.09. Ashland has a twelve month low of $46.29 and a twelve month high of $74.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.47, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued 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). Ashland had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 2.82%.The company had revenue of $482.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Ashland will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ashland

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ashland by 284.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $172,318,000 after acquiring an additional 2,555,585 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 13,240.8% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,736,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $101,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,159 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 775.6% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,900,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $111,473,000 after buying an additional 1,682,994 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in 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 valued at $84,335,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437,307 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 1,804.0% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,021,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $59,918,000 after buying an additional 967,626 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.