Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Receives $67.67 Average Target Price from Analysts

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $67.6667.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Ashland from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Argus raised their target price on Ashland from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Ashland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ashland

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASH. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 during the period. Standard Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ashland during the 3rd quarter worth about $107,318,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Ashland by 13,240.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,736,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $101,861,000 after buying an additional 1,723,159 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings 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 worth $84,335,000 after buying an additional 1,437,307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE ASH opened at $62.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.12, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 3.15. Ashland has a fifty-two week low of $45.21 and a fifty-two week high of $65.64.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.03. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.58% and a negative net margin of 38.26%.The firm had revenue of $386.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $401.42 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. Ashland’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ashland will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.415 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is presently -10.99%.

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.