Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Given New $80.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 2.48% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on ASH. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ashland from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Ashland from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ashland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Ashland from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Ashland from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.30.

Ashland Stock Performance

Ashland stock traded up $1.45 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $78.07. 32,221 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 771,309. Ashland has a 12 month low of $48.00 and a 12 month high of $79.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $71.63 and a 200 day moving average of $64.17. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 975.38, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.36.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The basic materials company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by ($0.15). Ashland had a net margin of 0.21% and a return on equity of 8.17%. The firm had revenue of $996.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $501.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ashland will post 4.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in Ashland by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 19,983 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,357,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,311 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 11,039 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ashland by 20.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ashland by 7.6% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,568 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ashland Company Profile