Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Price Target Cut to $100.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) had its target price cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $112.00 to $100.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on ASH. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ashland from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ashland from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ashland from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Ashland from $101.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ashland from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $104.63.

Ashland Trading Down 1.3 %

ASH traded down $1.10 on Thursday, reaching $82.01. 716,056 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 413,539. The company has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 3.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Ashland has a one year low of $70.82 and a one year high of $102.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.72.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 9.09%. The firm had revenue of $544.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Ashland’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ashland will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 122.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 143.9% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 378 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 163.7% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 559 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Ashland during the fourth quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Ashland by 143.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

About Ashland

Ashland Inc provides additives and specialty ingredients in the North and Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; and nutraceutical solutions comprising products for weight management, joint comfort, stomach and intestinal health, sports nutrition, and general wellness, as well as custom formulation, toll processing, and particle engineering solutions.